(Insert stupid Blog name here)

Two words: Angry Birds.

I'll have to check that out.

 

I've been playing H.o.G. of late.

AB is quite addicting - working on 3-8.

I just passed 3-13. Very fun Rube-Goldberg-esque level.

Just updated to iOS 4. Very nice. I like the folders feature a lot - I really like being able to organize my games better. Oddly enough, just the simple addition of being able to change the phone's wallpaper is one of my favorite improvements so far. Also, the iPod app works much nicer now - it brings me right back to what I'd been listening to before, instead of the main menu. The double-click to get access the controls is nice, too.

 

I also downloaded the free Apple Store and Amazon apps, and picked up the very handy Convert calculator.

 

Oh, and fresh levels for Angry Birds are available! Sweet.

I'm loving the folders!

 

A friend has the 3G and he doesn't get the wallpaper, just the lock screen image like before.

That's part of the "some features aren't supported" feature.

 

Apparently it has to do with animating the icons over a custom background not being smooth enough on the older processors. Or something like that.

So a guy walks into his doctor's office and says, "Hey doc, my iPhone stops working when I do this", so the doctor says, "Then don't do that".

I picked up SPL, a sound pressure level (decibel) meter. Mostly for work. I haven't tried it out against a real one, but I'll see if I can do that next week, and see how it stacks up. It's one of the more expensive ones of its type, but seems well-reviewed and well designed. Besides, I'm getting reimbursed for it.

Mmmm... fresh levels available for Jet Car Stunts! Plus they added anti-aliasing which spruces up the graphics quite nicely.

 

I updated to iOS 4.0.1, and now I only get three bars at home, when I used to get five. Wait... now it's four. No... two. Four. Three.

 

Whatever. In my office at work, it'll always be zero.

I updated to iOS 4.0.1, and now I only get three bars at home, when I used to get five. Wait... now it's four. No... two. Four. Three.

Graphs without scales are useless information except in a relative sense. The only thing which is important is whether you have enough strength to make & receive calls and how fast your battery disappears.

The whole thing is rather silly. The only relevant info for me has been whether I had 3G, Edge or no service. I've only had one or two dropped calls since I bought my iPhone. But I'm not one of these people who are hopelessly addicted to being continually on their cellphone, either.

More updates! New Angry Birds levels, and a major update to Star Wars: Trench Run that lets you choose from different ships including Y-Wings, TIE Fighters, and the Millennium Falcon.

(Hmmm... do I post this here, or in the More Tron, more fun comments? )

 

Disney's released a free iPhone app for Tron!

 

 

You drive a tank around the game grid, and blow up grid bugs. There are other enemies (gun turrets, tanks), power-ups, teleportation pads, doors to unlock... it's actually quite a lot for a free game. It's pretty good, and has a nice visual style to it. Just be sure to read the instructions first, since although they do include instructions between each of the levels, they include the instructions after the level they're relevant to.

 

There are also links in the app to the Tron Legacy movie trailer, the Tron Evolution game trailer, and Comic-Con event schedules. It looks like something they'll likely be adding content to as the movie gets closer.

One of the features I was looking forward to in iOS 4 was HDR (high dynamic range) photography. This is where the camera shoots multiple exposures, then combines them together to create better pictures under difficult lighting conditions.

 

Unfortunately, you only get that with an iPhone 4.

 

Jerks.

 

So I bought HDR Pro, which does the same thing, but with 3GS iPhones.

 

The trick is, you have to hold the iPhone dead-still in order to get the necessary pictures. So, I bought one of these:

 

 

As far as iPhone tripod solutions go, this is the cheapest I could find, and it works. I already own a tripod, and this screws right onto it and holds the iPhone securely (maybe a little too much if you insert the phone too far).

 

Here are a couple of pics (they're quite large, so I'm posting links)...

 

Normal iPhone camera app

 

HDR Pro app

 

One thing to particularly note, is how much less grain there is in the HDR pic. These were shot at the exact same time, using just ambient light from a window - no additional lights - so the grain is very pronounced due to the camera trying to get a decent exposure. The regular iPhone app had to blow out the background to get the foreground to show up. The HDR app managed to strike a balance that looked very much like the actual lighting conditions.

 

A few pics I shot off my HDTV using HDR Pro are in this post. The app also works well for shooting pictures of computer monitors, without having them wash out.

 

And it probably works outdoors, too. You know... for nature and stuff.

I just purchased RokuRemote from the App Store.

 

I picked up a Roku Soundbridge a couple of years back, and use it to play my iTunes library through my main sound system. The drawback to it is that it's a little inelegant when you're trying to locate your music, since you can't view long lists - only scroll through them an item at a time. RokuRemote solves that by not only bringing all of the Soundbridge's features to the app, but also giving full list views of my iTunes library, so finding stuff is a snap. Flipping the phone on its side even brings up a display that mimics the fluorescent display on the front of the Soundbridge. Cool.

 

I suppose the now-dirt-cheap AppleTV has obviated the need for the Soundbridge, but I still like it because I don't have to have my TV on to use it. (Although perhaps the new Apple Remote App + AppleTV combination allows you to get around that. Not sure.)

Need For Speed Shift is only 99¢. So whaddaya waiting for?

 

There are a bunch of other games on sale now, too. I just picked up Mirror's Edge for a measly $1.99 (although I haven't played it yet - still downloading).

Also picked up Bit.Trip.Beat and Osmos on sale, and Apple's free Remote.

 

Mirror's Edge is pretty cool. It's a platformer with very smartly designed controls and nice graphics. Like most platformers, you run, you jump, you slide, and you personify the rebellion of the individualist over the oppressive totalitarian regime.

 

Osmos is trippy. You control an orb, and use physics to propel the orb around gaining mass from other orbs. It's actually all rather soothing. (I'm still hoping someone ports Quantum over to the iPhone someday.)

 

I'd heard about Bit.Trip.Beat before (I guess it was on the Wii originally), so I figured for less than the cost of an order of McDonald's stale french fries, it was worth checking out. I'm not entirely sold on the gameplay, which involves using a Pong paddle to catch Pong balls in time with music. Maybe it gets more interesting as it goes along. Still, the retro-inspired graphics are very cool looking.

 

Remote is a little pointless for me to have, but it's free. I don't have a Mac hooked up to a sound system or TV (that's what my Soundbridge is for), so controlling iTunes remotely with my iPhone while sitting right in front of it... well, not so practical. But if the Apple TV pans out as something a bit more useful, I could see the merit in getting one and using Remote for it. It's certainly cheap enough now.

Cut the Rope flew up to the #1 spot in the app store, displacing Angry Birds. So I figured, "Must be pretty good." It's easily the second-cutest game I've ever played, and it's actually quite a lot of fun. It's another physics-puzzle game of a sort, with impossibly cute graphics and sound effects. For 99¢ and dozens of levels, it's a great buy.

 

I also picked up Fruit Ninja, since it's been in the top ten for quite some time, and is only 99¢. And I got about 99¢ worth of play out of it. You swipe your finger across the screen, slashing fruit, and avoiding bombs. And that seems to be it. Interesting for a few minutes, but doesn't seem to have much replay value, unless I'm missing something.

And then there was Reckless Racing. Remember the classic arcade game Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road?

 

Or Indy 500?

 

Anyway, mix either of those with the Dukes of Hazzard, and you have it. Very fun top-down racer, with great graphics, superb controls, and a great arcadey-feel to it.

 

Also out now is an all-new Halloween version of Angry Birds. Hey, you can't even buy a "fun-sized" candy bar for 99¢ anymore, so this is a bargain.

Just picked up Pano, which allows you to easily shoot and automatically create panoramic photos. It works pretty well, but it would be better if they combined it with HDR Pro.

Just picked up Pano, which allows you to easily shoot and automatically create panoramic photos. It works pretty well, but it would be better if they combined it with HDR Pro.

I've done some handheld panoramics and then stitched them together with Hugin. Hints and tips

One of these days I need to get a proper digital camera. If I need to take pictures, I either borrow one from work, or have to use my iPhone (which has no flash... or Flash ). While limited, the iPhone is handy since I've got it with me all the time, and the idea of using third-party apps to extend a camera's built-in capabilities has considerable merit. I wonder if any camera manufacturer is doing that?

I like my iPhone, but this is a really funny commercial:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KmfXupi9cg

And then...

 

I picked up MotionX GPS Drive, since for 99¢, I figured it was worth trying out for the voice-guidance GPS. Of course if I want to keep using it after 30 days, I have to pay. But we'll see how it goes.

 

A couple of new games came out:

Star Wars: Battle for Hoth, which is an Empire Strikes Back themed tower defense game. It's pretty cool, although sometimes the Imperials are just as typically stupid as they are in the films. You can set up troops in certain areas, and they'll never get shot (see lower left corner).

 

 

And if it's Tuesday, it must be time for another Need For Speed™ game. This time, it's Need For Speed™ Hot Pursuit. It's pretty decent. You take on the role of a cop driving super-car police vehicles, and you have to run the bad guys off the road. The gameplay is more arcadey than the last two NFS iPhone entries (which I like), although the graphics aren't nearly as polished.

 

Finally, the Tron app has been updated to include Light Cycles. Unfortunately, the controls are wonky. A d-pad would have been better. But they've added some nice extras and previews to the app. And besides, it's free.