Judge dismisses Psystar antitrust lawsuit against Apple

Judge William Alsup dismissed a Psystar lawsuit against Apple alleging the Cupertino, Calif. company violated federal and state antitrust laws.

Macintosh/iPhone software update round-up - November 18, 2008

Section: Software + Apps, Miscellaneous, Third-Party, iPod + iTunes, iPod touch, iPhone + Communications, iPhone Accessories, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, Mac + Computers, SoftwareMacintosh and iPhone software updates and announcements for November 18, 2008: Trial downloads of the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product family are available now on Adobe.com, allowing users to test out the software before purchasing. Delivering radical breakthroughs in workflow efficiency—and packed with hundreds of innovative, time-saving features—the new Creative Suite 4 product line advances the creative process across print, Web, interactive, film, video and mobile. VH1 and Mobui Corporation have announced the launch of the “VH1 Watch and Discuss Live Chat“ application in the AT&T Media Mall. The downloadable mobile instant messaging application enables VH1 viewers to use their phone to chat in real time with friends and other VH1 fans while watching VH1’s popular programming, as well as participate in periodic discussions hosted by VH1’s popular on-air talent. ZappTek and InterLingua Publishing have introduced EngLits; detailed audio and text summaries of classic books and plays that you can listen to or read on your iPhone and iPod touch. Written by university professors, and recorded by professional actors to insure clarity, EngLits provides students with a summary the full story of the required reading assignment, including all characters and events that are important. 99Games has released puzzle game Jigsaw Wild for iPhone and the iPod touch. Jigsaw Wild has been built around the wild safari theme. Jigsaw Wild is preloaded with images of varied species of Wild Animals, Birds, Reptiles and Insects. It has options to change puzzle shapes, shake ‘n’ break puzzle, provision to capture images with Built-in Camera, and many more. TubeStick, equinux’s modern TV solution for Mac, now provides detailed TV listings for US and Australian viewers. Today equinux released TubeGuide US, a subscription-based TV listing service that displays the programming information for both digital and analog TV channels. TubeStick now also supports Australia’s independent electronic program guide (EPG) IceTV. TubeStick makes it easy and fun to watch, schedule and manage TV recordings at home or on the go. The tradition of Tasseology (tea leaf and Turkish coffee reading) is now available on your iPhone and iPod touch. When you drink your cup of tea or coffee the leftover sediment has meaning. Touch the leftover leaves or grounds and you will learn about the future of your life in three key areas: love, money, and work. ivyskin LLC has unveiled the $99.99 QuattroPower case, a new iPhone 3G accessory that brings a premium power and protection experience to iPhone’s owners. It offers ivyskin’s newest Glass touch Thru case called Quattro T4 bundled with the new QuattroPac battery. With the introduction of the world’s first Xylo touch-thru case for iPhone, and recently a breakthrough Glass Quattro Touch-Thru cases for iPhone 3G. easyishop.co.uk has introduced a brand new portable speaker. The Cygnett GrooveBassball is compatible with all iPod’s and MP3 players and is perfect for listening to music on the go, as it is pocket-sized. It is also perfect while travelling because of its small size and long lasting battery. MYOB has announced the immediate availability of AccountEdge 2009, the latest version of their premium small business management and accounting software for Mac small businesses. The update includes the new Business Insights feature, which gives customers new tools to assess the health of their business. QuickerTek has announced the Apple Juicz External Battery/Charger for the 13 inch MacBook. This product is styled to blend with your Apple equipment, the MacBook External Battery gives users up to 12 additional hours of computing power. Ilium Software has just released Kings Corners for the iPhone and iPod touch. Kings Corners combines luck and skill in a fun and fast card game that’s easy to learn, but challenging to master. Game play is quick, making Kings Corners the perfect distraction from long lines, waiting rooms, and all the otherwise boring parts of the day that can’t be avoided. But Kings Corners is also highly addictive, and players will soon find out that once they start playing, it’s really tough to stop! Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Apple and Google should talk voice recognition on iPhone

Google's latest version of its iPhone search application adds the ability to search by voice. So how come Apple hasn't added voice-recognition yet?

Apple discontinues 23-inch Cinema Display

Apple officially discontinued its 23-inch Cinema Display on Tuesday, making way for recently announced 24-inch LED Cinema.

Citrix developing XenApps and XenDesktop for the iPhone

Citrix will make its XenDesktop and XenApp client and server software for remote access to Windows applications available for the iPhone in 2009.

Note to journalists who don’t play games: The iPhone will not kill the DS or PSP

Section: Software + Apps, Games, iPod + iTunes, iPod touch, iPhone + Communications, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, Originals I’m not an industry analyst, I’m a gamer. I have been since my brother and I used some inheritance money to buy an Intellivision back in the early ‘80s. And although I have my favorite systems (I’ve become a Nintendo fellow as of late, owning both the DS and Wii), I can appreciate the strengths of each system currently on the market. I don’t have access to the Microsoft and Sony platforms, but I find plenty of other ways to fulfill my video gaming needs. And because I review games for both Appletell and Gamertell, I probably spend more time playing games than a working man and father of two should. Productive? Perhaps not, but my broad exposure to the gaming lifestyle does make me question the logic behind articles about how the iPhone will take over the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP for handheld gaming. You can’t mash buttons if you don’t have buttons. The latest such article comes from Nick Winfield and Christopher Lawton of wsj.com (see Apple’s iPhone Faces Off With the Game Champs). To their credit, Nick and Christopher don’t state that the iPhone is a DS/PSP killer, rather that it’s simply “targeting” them; that big name developers and publishing houses are increasingly seeing the iPhone and iPod touch as valid gaming systems. But are these iDevices really in direct competition with the DS and PSP? Because if they are, they’re simply no match. This isn’t to say that iPhone games aren’t good. I’ve played quite a few that I enjoy, but it’s a completely different gaming experience. Games were an afterthought to the development of the iPhone and iPod touch, as evidenced mainly by the control system. Although the accelerometer is cool for some genres (racing, mostly, or the always popular moving balls), the combination of that and the touch screen make even the most basic of video games extremely awkward to control. Tilt. You’ve got no other choice. Take, for instance, Bomberman touch. Bomberman has appeared in some form on pretty much every computer/gaming system since the dawn of Atari. Its success has stemmed mainly from its simple, addictive gameplay, but the iPhone version is not simple because the touch screen controls are awkward and frustrating. And believe me, nothing kills “addictive” faster than “frustrating.” So, in order to make a game that actually plays well on the iPhone, the game has to be built around the controls. Yes, gameplay in some instances is conducive to the touchscreen, the accelerometer or a combination thereof, but quick, intricate movement cannot be obtained in this method. And considering that most games require skilled movement and control, the iPhone is hampered by its own design. What we’ll end up seeing, therefore, is some fantastic games built around the iPhone’s capabilities, along with a whole slew of games dumped onto the iPhone in an effort to cash in on its popularity, but that are almost unplayable and will therefore quickly be buried and forgotten under the thousands of other apps released that month. Wii owners know what I’m talking about. Games built specifically for the Wii Remote control system can be an incredible experience. Games dumped on the Wii to take advantage of its popularity without any thought for how to implement the remote technology are generally pretty horrid and unplayable. Rumored controls for rumored iPhone/iPod touch version of Quake 30 hours of gameplay! (Split nicely into iPhone-friendly 10 minute increments.) There’s also the issue of depth. Many DS and PSP games are designed for extended periods of play. They can be epic in scale, with everything from RPGs to RTSs to first-person shooters. Many games offer dozens of hours of gameplay. This is what hard core gamers want, and it’s how they choose their system. I suppose someone may eventually release games like that on the iPhone, but I haven’t seen them yet. In fact, the games coming close to offering such hard core experiences have generally been plagued by crashes, freezes and other problems. It seems the iPhone OS isn’t built to handle such resource heavy games, at least not in its current state, and the iPhone itself isn’t built for prolonged gaming sessions, at least not comfortably. Super Steveoid Brothers Prime: Liberty City...only on the iPhone? In addition, the iPhone has no platform specific titles. It has no Mario or Metroid or Zelda, and I don’t believe it ever will. Many gamers chose their system because of specific titles they know they’ll want. I, for instance, picked up the Nintendo DS specifically to play “The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.” Before that, I bought a GBA specifically to play “The Legend of Zelda: The Minnish Cap.” I’m certainly not alone here, as evidenced by the amount of time and resources game system developers put into creating, marketing and maintaining their franchise titles. Will Apple set up its own internal game development division? Will it just buy one out like Microsoft did? I don’t see that happening. Mario. More fun than Joe the Plumber, and apparently a better plumber, too. The “funnest iPod ever,” yes, but not “funner” than the DS or PSP. Don’t get me wrong, though. The ease of developing games with the iPhone SDK and the cheap App Store distribution model means the iPhone will be tremendously successful as a gaming platform. A Mac/iPhone game developer I spoke with recently confided that in a couple months they sold more copies of the iPhone version of one of their games than the Mac version sold in almost ten years. That’s absolutely crazy, and there’s no denying that there’s a huge potential for profit on the iPhone. Even better, the iPhone makes it easy for new companies to break into an industry that’s otherwise choked by the big developers with the large production/marketing budgets and dominance of the retail channels. That makes the iPhone an exciting platform with the potential for real innovation and originality (not unlike the WiiWare titles on the Wii), but it also means a glut of shovelware and “me too” game clones. Seriously, just how much better can your version of Bejeweled really be? Even with this potential, when I’m looking to play a game—and I mean when I’m thinking, “Okay, game time,” not “How can I kill 15 minutes while I’m waiting for my kid to get out of the dentist’s office"—I’m not reaching for my iPhone. Rather, I’m picking up the DS, because that’s where games are designed for gamers, not for cell phone owners. What’s likely to end up happening, then, is that the iPhone will be successful as a gaming platform, but completely independently of devices dedicated specifically to gaming. They have different core audiences, and always will. And although the iPhone could pull some buyers away from the DS and PSP, I anticipate it may actually drive people towards those devices. People may play Bomberman Touch on the iPhone, get a feel for what handheld gaming could be, and graduate to the better gaming experiences offered by Nintendo and Sony. And, if not—if the iPhone and iPod touch are enough to suit your gaming needs—then you weren’t likely to drop $130 to $170 on a gaming system to begin with. So, don’t panic, DS and PSP owners. You’re not likely to see Grand Theft Auto or Castlevania on the iPhone anytime soon. You’re also not likely to see these devices disappear from store shelves...at least not until new models are released. These systems will coexist peacefully with the iPhone/iPod touch, and we’ll all be one big, happy, gaming world. A much less productive world, granted, but a happy one. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »