The latest, greatest iPhone games

Our new contributer, Simon from Best Mobile Contracts has the low down on some of the best iOS games you can get your grubby mitts on over the festive season.



Almost as though game developers have calendars too, and know Christmas is just around the corner, a load of great stocking-fillers just got released for iPhone. Christmas? No-one buys iPhone games for Christmas, not when it's much easier to buy them for yourself than anyone else... which is why it still makes sense to get some decent games out, this time of year, perfect for picking up to treat yourself, since you're treating everyone else. Most of them cost less than a pint, too.


Infinity Blade II (£4.99 download, iPhone 3GS or better, iOS 3.2 or later)

It's here – the first major game release designed especially for the iPhone 4S, iCloud, and iOS5, as well as the sequel to probably the most critically acclaimed iPhone game ever. And a worthy sequel it is, retaining the original's focus on exciting melee combat action, but adding new fighting styles (you can now use either a two-handed weapon, a weapon and shield, or two weapons, with each option having its own advantages), deeper storytelling, and a richer world to explore.

A few customers have reported lost saved games, despite the iCloud integration with the game. Chair Entertainment are collecting info and working on a fix for this, but in the meantime they recommend downloading the latest iOS5 version to minimise problems.

Despite that minor teething trouble, we're confident in recommending Infinity Blade II as not just the best new iPhone game, but probably the greatest smartphone game ever released.

Bike Baron (£0.69 download, iPhone 3GS or better, iOS 3.2 or later)

If you like racing games, pick up Bike Baron. With zanier humour than Mario Kart, fast motorcycle racing action, 70 levels, and a fully featured level editor, this is well worth sixty-nine pence of anyone's money. Great stuff.









Spell Tower (£0.69 download, iPhone, iOS 4.1 or later)
Spell Tower is a word game, but it goes far beyond the usual Scrabble or Boggle approach, blending in some more traditional video-game aspects. Think Tetris meets Bubble Drop meets an anarchic brain-teaser, and you're close. The designer is a gamer first and foremost, rather than a word buff, and the resulting game is probably the freshest approach to word games that the world has seen since Bananagrams.





Bruce Lee (£1.49 download, iPhone 3GS or better, iOS 4.0 or later)
If that name sounds familiar to the over-40s, that's because this is a port of a 1984 eight-bit classic videogame, originally for the Commodore 64 computer. So, given the inevitably shabby-looking graphics, the price is a little steep – but given the almost equally inevitably amazing gameplay, it might be worth picking up anyway. You can't really go wrong with a platform/beat-em-up hybrid that lets you fight ninjas and sumo wrestlers as Bruce Lee.






Pet Shop Story (Free download, iPhone, iOS 3.0 or later)
If you like Farmville style social tycoon games, but are more into dogs and cats than cows and corn, you should at least try out Pet Shop Story. Breed your own strange hybrids, compete with or help your friends (including on the Facebook version), customise your pet shop's appearance, and enjoy the top-notch graphics.

Remembering Steve Jobs

Remembering the man who changed the technology world and influenced the era of "Think Different"





On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died in California at age 56 due to a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
The devastating news came to millions of tech fans all over the world.

Steve Jobs was a great man, and a brilliant influence and credit to the technology world, and everyone here at Tech Beever would like to send our condolences to Jobs' friends and family for their tragic loss.

The computer entrepreneur and inventor was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. and also served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios.

In 1978, Apple recruited Mike Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as CEO for what turned out to be several turbulent years. In 1983, Steve Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple's CEO, asking, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"

Later the following year, Apple aired a Super Bowl television commercial titled "1984". At Apple's annual shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984, to which an emotional Jobs introduced the Macintosh to a wildly enthusiastic audience.

In 1984, however, Sculley relieved Jobs of his duties as head of the Macintosh division. Jobs later claimed that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could happen to him; "The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."

Following in 1985, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985, which saw the birth of the NeXT workstation. The NeXT workstation was known for its technical strengths, with its object-oriented software development system. NeXT products were marketed to the financial, scientific, and academic community, highlighting its innovative, experimental new technologies, such as the Mach kernel, the digital signal processor chip, and the built-in Ethernet port.

In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm's computer graphics division for the price of $10 million, with the first film produced by the partnership, Toy Story, bringing fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995. The company went on to (and still does) create brilliant animated films, including box-office hits A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010). Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 each receiving the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

The second generation NeXTcube was also released in 1990, with Jobs touting it as the first "interpersonal" computer which would replace the personal computer. The NeXTcube could share voice, image, graphics, and video in email for the first time. "Interpersonal computing is going to revolutionise human communications and groupwork", Jobs told enthusiastic reporters. In 1996, NeXT Software, Inc. released WebObjects, a framework for web application development. NeXT was acquired by Apple Inc. in 1997 and WebObjects was used to build and run the hugely popular Apple Store, MobileMe services, and the iTunes Store.

Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of $429 million for NeXT brought Jobs back to the very company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until his tragic death in 2011.

Under Jobs's guidance the company increased sales significantly with the introduction of the iMac, and later, the iPod portable music player, iTunes digital music software, and the iTunes Store.

On June 29, 2007, Apple entered the mobile phone business with the introduction of the iPhone, a multi-touch display smartphone, which also included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobile browsing scene. While stimulating innovation, Jobs also reminded his employees that "real artists ship", by which he meant that delivering working products on time is as important as innovation and attractive design.

With the ever importance of the Mac, Macbook, iPod, iPhone and iPad series growing all the time, it's hard not to look at Steve Jobs' work and think that this man brought something to the world with every product he placed his fingers to. Even if you're not a fan of Apple, no one can argue the influence Jobs brought to the technology world, that even if you're a firm 'fanboy' of Android, that the iPhone was a true innovation of the smartphone world. And that the iPad may not have been the first tablet in the world -- it was almost certainly a revolutionary bound forward, bringing the love, and even 'need' for a stylish, yet magical device.

It's all these things and more, that make the loss of Steve Jobs; a man who wasn't afraid to "think differently", all the more tragic.

Steve Jobs will be sadly missed, but for all the work he's done, for products that will continue to grow and evolve -- he'll never be forgotten.

Shadowgun Best Looking Mobile Game Ever?

Shadowgun developer Madfinger Games has announced that its upcoming shooter will be hitting the iOS App Store September 28, with an Android release to follow shortly after.

These new screenshots have come to light showing off the game's impressive visuals (click for full-size):










Source: IGN

Pokèmon Heading To iOS and Android

Engadget have released a post regarding Pokèmon heading to iOS and Android, something that hit news earlier last week, but that news was a "music game". You can read the whole article here, but one section made us take more attention.

Taken from Engadgets article:

"With all of that in mind, it was a bit surprising to hear that a Pokemon card game is headed for the iPhone and Android devices in Japan this summer -- after all, Nintendo does own a share of the popular monster-based franchise."

I'd like to point you all in the direction of our Pokèmon Proposition articles posted along a while ago, Here, here, here and here

Yes, OUR idea that we put to both Apple and Nintendo. We'll update as and when we get more info.

Tech Beever is not happy.

Project MGS: Hands On (literally)

Artem Vovk and Shuo Yang at the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany have created Project MGS (Media Gathering System) a multitouch table of Apple interactivity.

The system enables wireless transfer of your iPhone's media to the infrared camera-equipped tabletop for some Java-based, gesture controlling; just like something from a Sci-Fi film. The whole thing works simply with the table reading a barcode affixed to the back of your device, The project also supports file transfers between iOS devices, a feature destined for display in future videos. As of now, the table only works with Apple products, but the pair promises it can easily make way for future Android connectivity.

See the embedded video below for a full demo.




Source: Engadget

iOS 5 The Full Update News

Well, the wait is finally over, iOS 5 is here, and is the biggest update for Apples iDevice OS ever. But what exactly is here? Well Engadget has compiled a full breakdown of what's in store, ready for it's official release later this Fall.

Apple iOS 5 hands-on preview

By Jacob Schulman  posted Jun 6th 2011 10:10PM

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iOS 5 won't be ready for the masses until this Fall, but lucky developers -- and eager tech bloggers -- are able to get in on the action right now. We just got done downloading the 730MB BETA, and have decided to turn our iPhone 4 and iPad 2 into guinea pigs for all the newness. Apple says that there are over 200 new features baked into the updated OS, and we've run through the biggies from Notification Center to Twitter to that oh-so-convenient split keyboard for you -- all you need to do is click after the break.

iOS 5 BETA 1 for iPhone hands-on

iOS 5 BETA 1 for iPad hands-on

Many of the new features in iOS 5 are things we've been sitting, waiting, and wishing for since the iPhone first launched. Complete with a more robust notification scheme and a brand new messaging protocol, Apple has filled in many of the gaps that have left it behind other OSs like Android and webOS.

When you first power up the device, you're greeted with an option to select your WiFi network -- a necessary step for all the cloud-related goodies and WiFi sync features that are now present in the OS. Once you're online, you enter your Apple ID, or can sign up for one directly on the device you're using -- which is great for those of us living in a post PC era. After that you get prompted on whether or not you'd like to use iCloud -- which you obviously do -- followed by an option to use the free Find My iPhone service. Finally, after deciding whether or not you'd like to share your usage stats with Apple or not (take a guess at what we chose), you're up and running to "start using the most advanced iOS ever" -- Apple's words, not ours. Now that the hard stuff is out of the way, let's get on to what you've most been waiting for: the new stuff.

Notification Center

We've lamented about iOS's seemingly archaic popup notification scheme since we received our first text message ever on an iPhone -- and then scratched our heads even more when we got our first push notification on an iPad. Apple has taken the Android approach in iOS 5, and has made a home for all notifications in a drawer that is toggled by a swipe down from the top of the screen. When you get a notification, it pops in from the top with a different color so it's not missed, and if not addressed it disappears with a rotating-cube transition. It's quite nice, and looks remarkably like the MobileNotifier jailbreak app -- which is probably not a coincidence given that developer's most recent employer. We should also mention that weather and stock updates are now nested in the notifications tray for quick access, and it updates by location automatically.

Notifications also live on the homescreen, though it looks as if they only appear when a new notification has appeared after the device has been locked. Meaning, if you get an email and don't read it while you're doing something else, notifications don't show up on the homescreen. However, if you get one while the device is locked, all notifications appear and you're given the option to swipe directly to any one of your choosing. We hope this becomes an option before this OS goes gold, but for now, it's simply so much better than what we had before, so we don't want to get too picky (especially in a BETA).

iMessage

Apple has taken on the current king of mobile-to-mobile instant messaging, BBM, with its own take dubbed iMessage. iMessage is integrated right into the Messages app on the iPhone, which is now present on the iPad for the first time. Apple touted the service's ability to recognize when you're messaging someone else eligible for iMessages, but it appears to be limited to e-mail addresses at this point in the BETA. Delivery confirmation is turned on by default, but those of you who don't like the thrill of the chase will be happy to learn that there's an option to disable read receipts. This means that if you don't want the person on the other end to know you've read it, they never will. By default, it works with your Apple ID e-mail address, but you can add as many as you'd like from the settings application after verifying that you do indeed own the account. We should also mention that messages are pushed to all devices you're logged into, so you might want to get used to those push notifications if you carry around an iPad and an iPhone. We're looking forward to putting iMessage to a rigorous test once it's in the final software, but for now we can report that it does work, and seems quite fast -- especially with iCloud integration and multiple devices.

Update: We've played with iMessage a little more and it looks like the differentiating factor between iMessages and SMSs is the color. When someone is eligible for an iMessage, the text in the box reads "iMessage" (as opposed to "Text Message") and the bubbles all turn blue. We're still not quite sure how a device tells email accounts apart from phone numbers, but there's likely something magical and revolutionary taking place on Apple's backend. Text bubble previews appear when the other person is typing, along with read confirmations which include the time.

Another minor thing we've noticed is that push notifications look identical for both iMessages and SMSs since they use the same icon. It's a bit confusing to figure out the difference between them at first, but once you've started one type of conversation, the different color schemes serve as indicators.

Newsstand

The rise of newspaper and magazine apps for the iPad -- not to mention Apple's subscription offerings -- has given birth to Newsstand, a one stop shop for keeping track of all those types of publications. When iOS 5 launches in the fall, there will be a new section of the App Store for newspapers and magazines with subscriptions, so you'll be able to fill it up to your heart's content -- or 'till you're out of storage space. But for now, all we're given is a nice empty bookshelf that's identical to the iBooks interface but uses a folder dropdown. It makes us think that Apple isn't quite done with folders just yet.

Twitter

One of the rumors that gained a bit of traction before the keynote was native Twitter integration directly inside iOS. It's now possible to Tweet from within Apple's native apps: websites in Safari, or photos in the Camera app. The "Tweet" button is located under the familiar sharing pane, and ticking it pops up the keyboard along with an overlay that resembles an index card, complete with ruled lines and a paper clip to visualize what you're attaching. Geotagging is available through a simple tap of the "Add Location" option, and one more tap sends the tweet out to all your followers.

The keyboard adds dedicated @ and # keys when you're tweeting, and autocompletes usernames to help you out. The integration here is really slick, and you can add multiple accounts from new Twitter option in the Settings app. There's also the option to automatically link your contacts to their Twitter names. We follow over 200 people, and it was only able to update 66 of our contacts -- though without any options or indications, we couldn't quickly identify who it was able to match. If you're a big Twitter-er, you're going to like this... Your followers? maybe not so much.

Reminders

We're sure there are a bunch of unhappy developers now that Apple has come through with its own first party solution for reminders on its i-devices. When you launch the app, you'll see two screens: Tasks, and Completed. Adding a task is as simple as tapping the + button, and there are more options for reminders, due dates, and priority sorting. You can make other lists for specific tasks, and when complete they'll automatically transfer over to the Completed list, so you can get on with 527 other things you have to do.

The iPad version of the app also makes use of the extra screen real estate with a handy split view that lets you visualize tasks on a monthly calendar. We also noticed that tasks weren't syncing between our devices, but it could very well be a setting we missed. Additionally, if you set a reminder for a task, you'll get a push notification in that handy tray reminding you to get that stuff done. Apple's website mentions the ability to set reminders by location, but our build of the BETA didn't seem to have that functionality.

Update: Reader Mark F. has written in to let us know that apparently location features are present, but only when a task is associated with an iCloud list.

Camera

Apple's updated the native Camera app in iOS to do more than just... take photos. In addition to snapping pics and vids, the iPhone gets an option to lock focus and exposure by holding down on a part of the image. Zoom controls are now activated via pinch-to-zoom, which makes sense but feels a lot more sensitive than the previous tap-and-drag method. Oh, you can also use the volume up button to take photos -- another biggie that many folks have been asking for.

In terms of photo editing, Apple has added basic features like auto-enhance, red-eye reduction, rotation, and cropping, though confusingly you have to switch to the Photos app to do so. That's right, photo editing controls aren't available in the Camera app on the iPhone. You have to switch over to the Photos app, which is not the case on the iPad. We're unclear about this disconnect, and it'll probably be addressed before launch. The features here are more than enough for the casual user, but photography aficionados (who can make do with an iPhone at all) will probably be sticking to more robust apps. Finally, you can quickly jump straight to the camera even if your iPhone is locked by double tapping the home button -- a great tweak that'll make those difficult to capture moments just a bit easier. This feature seems to be limited to the iPhone for the moment, but anything could change at release.

Safari Reader and updated tabs

Mobile Safari for iPad has been updated to take advantage of the larger screen real estate in a more effective manner with a glorified tab bar instead of the old grid layout. As far as we can see, it maxes out at nine different pages, but looks virtually identical to the tab layout in Safari on Mac (or PC). You can re-order tabs by holding and dragging them sideways, and Safari appears to cache pages when not active so you don't have to reload them when you switch back and forth.

Also baked in to mobile Safari for both the iPhone and the iPad is Safari Reader, which strips out all the nasty formatting from webpages and leaves you with raw text and images. This feature first made an appearance in Safari on the desktop but has made the jump to iOS with the latest software update. It's disturbingly similar to Instapaper, and yet another common feature that can't be ignored.

Split keyboard, text macros, and other various tweaks and settings

There are tons of other goodies that we found while poking and prodding through the new OS that we simply had to share with you. First off, there's a handy new split keyboard for the iPad that makes thumb typing lightyears easier than with the previous fullscreen option. Placing two fingers on the keyboard and moving outwards is enough to break the keyboard in half, and the screen animation is pretty nifty too. It's probably one of the things we like most on the iPad update, and is another feature that just makes sense.

The Settings app is chock full of new features that will make power users thrilled. Our favorite is the addition of text shortcuts, which can be added in the keyboard settings pane. This allows you to set personalized text macros for frequently typed phrases, and is a huge addition for things like constantly typing email addresses and the like. Sound settings are also fleshed out, allowing users to change the various alert tones, as well as configuring varying vibration schemes.

The accessibility settings aren't a usual place for many folks to wander, but here you can further tweak interaction options on your iPhone. The most notable is the ability to enable the LED flash for alerts, which effectively brings a status light to the iPhone. We also found something called "AssistiveTouch" which purportedly allows the iPhone to interact with adaptive accessories. Lastly there's the option to create custom gestures. We couldn't figure out what those were for, nor how to invoke them, so we'll just have to wait on that one.

Wrap-up

Believe it or not, we've barely scratched the surface of what's in store for iOS 5, but hopefully this preview is enough to help you make sense of it all. None of this code is finalized, but performance seems to be fairly good for the first developer preview build. We're super excited to see what else Apple has in store for this -- and what developers will do with the various new APIs -- so we'll just have to wait until the fall for the t's to be crossed and the i's to get dotted. For now, though, we'll just sit back, relax, and let Apple's spftware engineers work their coding magic and flesh out all the issues to get this OS ready for the masses.

Head over to Engadget for full galleries in their iOS 5 Hands on Preview

Beever Rant: 3D iPod will trump 3DS

Industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks the 3DS is a revolutionary product, but he expects Apple to trump it with a 3D iPod in the future.

"On the handheld side, I see the 3DS as truly revolutionary, but expect Apple to copy it and improve the design with a 3D iPod, and to again begin to erode Nintendo's first mover advantage," he predicted in an interview with Konsolifin.net.

"Nintendo has iterated its handheld's frequently, and may succeed in holding Apple at bay; it will be interesting to watch."

Intresting, yes. But a 3D iPod? The only controls the iPod has, are touch screen and tilting the device. Hardly grounds for 3D gaming; If you move the screen, what happens to the 3D visuals? They dissapear. 


Now, if Apple made a standalone gaming console to rival the 3DS and PSP2 (note: PSP2 isn't 3D), then this would be grounds for a genuine argument. However, I can see no reason why Apple would take all the gaming revenue away from the iPod, iPhone and iPad, the companys biggest incomes, just to accomodate 3D.


Sorry Michael, the Beever has spoken.

App Review: Infinity Blade (iPhone 4)

                  

 

 

Following in the well received footsteps of Rage HD, comes Infinity Blade, the second in what we hope is just the start of amazing looking iOS games boasting advanced 3D graphics.

Epic Games (creators of the wildly successful Gears of War console series) have delivered the first mobile game built around its Unreal Engine 3. As you'd expect, it's amazing to look at, and the immersive nature of the audio-visual helps the clichéd game in terms of storyline, as well as the overall presentation of Infinity. 

 

My, what a comfy chair

 

 You have the ability to dodge, block, or parry attacks, while your own strokes of furious vengeance can be delivered via either your trusty metallic weapon of choice -- whether it be sword-shaped or more reminiscent of an axe, your protagonist will wield it in the same way -- or a spot of magical destruction, depending on your tastes. Mixed up together, the virtual buttons and gesture-based slashing represent your classic case of a control scheme that's easy to get the hang of quickly, but challenging and deep enough to require an investment of time to master fully. The most important thing is that it can be sickeningly satisfying, particularly because your blade cuts swathes through the enemies that directly correspond to the angles of your finger swipes. It just makes it that extra bit more personal.

 

 

What do you mean you've only got Earl Grey?

Epic bills this as an action-RPG title and the role-playing aspect comes in immediately following each battle, where you're studiously assessed on how stylishly you destroyed your opponent. Experience points are then distributed in a somewhat quirky way, whereby each item of your kit collects a portion of the score until it is mastered, at which point its share of the XP loot starts to be wasted. Since mastery of each item is rewarded, you'll want to achieve it, but because you lose points after mastering an item, you're encouraged to keep moving on to other swords, other helmets, and other sets of armor, which then tend to subtly alter the basic gameplay. This, in turn, helps to variegate the game's experience. Another important aspect of RPGs, the storyline, is almost entirely neglected here, but that's to be expected -- we are, after all, talking about gaming on a smartphone.

                                                                                                  

                                                                                       

It's also extremely encouraging to hear that Epic plans to expand the already rich inventory of trinkets for your warrior with even more options, all of them free, and a multiplayer element is also promised at some point down the line. Game Center integration is already present and achievements get tallied up -- yes, they do make the game more fun -- but we can't wait to start dishing out some trash talk with our super-duper combos. 

The one major downer to this game, the fact that it's basically a one-on-one dojo sparring session under all the glitz and glamor, goes out of the window when you're playing against your best buddy or colleague. The unpredictability of human opponents is the thing that's kept so many first-person shooters going far past their sell-by date (or even real-time strategy titles like StarCraft), so we can only imagine how crazed this game's followers will become once it lets you slash up your boss with something called the Sword of Storms.

In terms of its relationship with your iPhone, Epic's Infinity Blade has a predictably ruinous effect on battery life. We managed to halve a fully charged iPhone's juice with a three-hour session of on-and-off gaming, but backgrounding this app has also shown to be energy-intensive. In our limited experience, we saw our iPhone 4 chew through an atypically large chunk of its energy reserves while we had Blade in the background, meaning that you'll want to shut it down completely when you're done with it. 

Otherwise, it performed perfectly respectably for us. Some drops in frame rate were apparent, but given the visual treasures on offer, that's neither a surprise nor an intolerable flaw. There is a touch of lag in responding to our swipes as well, but that's mostly evident when battles really heat up and is again a relative non-issue.

There's no denying that, as a game, Blade Infinity is limited. The storyline can be recited in a single sentence and the basic gameplay mechanic is one and the same throughout. However, it never feels like a trudge because of some spectacular presentation, RPG elements that have been woven in intelligently rather than thrown in as an afterthought, and increasingly sophisticated enemy AI as you progress through the game. So, is it worth your £3.49? Hell yes. And even if it wasn't, you'd still want to buy it just so you could tell your grandkids that you were there when 3D games went mobile.

Note: Infinity Blade was reviewed on an iPhone 4. The game is also compatible with the iPad, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch fourth generation and third generation (16GB and above).