There are a lot of awesome games on sale in the Because We May event going on this weekend, but of the titles I've picked up so far, League of Evil 2 is probably my favorite. It's a platformer title, in the vein of Super Meat Boy, in that it's basically a quick and simple romp through a series of quick levels. But while a lot of platformers don't work all that well on the iPad's touchscreen, League of Evil 2 works great. The virtual buttons are not only big and easy to hit, but they're very responsive, and great character and animation designs make it easy to move around the level quickly in very precise ways.

Each level is pretty quick to get through, but there are hidden briefcases to find in each one, and you're also timed as you go, with a max three star rating to earn. There are over 100 levels to play, and with the game on sale for just 99 cents, League of Evil 2 is the best way to spend a buck this Memorial Day weekend. Don't miss it!

Daily iPad App: League of Evil 2 proves platformers and touchscreens can play nice originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've heard that Apple intends to step up hiring at a new research center in Israel, and here is more evidence of that effort. Two new job listings have appeared on Apple's site for physical design engineers in Haifa, Israel, showing that Apple is getting serious about building out its new R&D center.

These engineers will work on designs for "system-on-a-chip" implementations. Which, of course, is exactly the kind of technology that Apple is so good at stuffing into tiny mobile devices. The open positions are high level placements, with job requirements that expect to see these SoC designs from beginning to end. It'll probably take Apple a while to fill these positions with the right people, so we likely won't see actual chips come out of these facilities for a while. But the company clearly has an eye forward to making the site there an important one for Apple's future devices.

Apple looking to hire engineers at Israel R&D facility originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I don't really care who you are or what kind of games you like. You should go to the App Store and buy Burnout Crash for 99 cents because it's on sale right now.

Done? Great. Now I'll tell you what the game's about. Criterion Games typically makes console games, most notably the Burnout series, in which cars are mashed up in incredibly gorgeous ways across races and other modes. Recently, the company released a downloadable console game called Burnout Crash, which was a top-down arcade version of one of Burnout's destruction-based modes.

Burnout Crash isn't a shabby port. Criterion clearly considered how to best adapt the game to Apple's touchscreen. The result is a lot of fun. You swipe cars around the screen to blow them up, earn points with combos and multipliers, and enjoy the chaotic fun.

The sounds in Burnout Crash must be heard to be believed. Not only are the crashing sounds perfectly implemented, but the arcade-style sounds are reminiscent of a casino slot machine. They ring out gorgeously as you play with various spinny wheels and jackpot game mechanics.

And at 99 cents during EA's big sale this weekend, this is absolutely a must-play game. Which is why you already bought it at the beginning of this post, right?

Daily iPhone App: Burnout Crash smashes with style originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It seems like it's been a while since we had a big holiday weekend full of app sales, but the wait is over: Memorial Day is coming up in just a few days, and app developers are bringing down prices all over the store to celebrate!

• EA's got most of its games on sale for just 99 cents, including Flight Control Rockets, Trenches 2, and Burnout Crash. Some really great deals in there.
• Because We May is a big coordinated indie gaming sale going on, and pretty much every great indie game on iOS has been brought down to 99 cents. Too many great titles in there to list: Puzzlejuice, Swords and Soldiers, Fieldrunners, Super Mega Worm, 1-bit Ninja, Aftermath, League of Evil 2, and a whole lot more. Seriously -- go buy some iPhone games.
• Above has dropped to free.
• Cut the Rope: Experiments is free.
• Mini Motor Racing HD has gone free.
• And side scroller racing game Dream Track Nation has gone free as well.
• Business Card Reader from Shape Services is now $2.99, down from $4.99.

Man oh man that's a lot of great, really cheap games. Especially that Because We May sale -- seriously, go look at it, both for iOS and Steam.

Tons of apps on sale to kick off Memorial Day weekend originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Man, Halfbrick's just not giving up on Jetpack Joyride. We just recently had a huge gadgets update for the game that added all sorts of tweaks to the jetpack action, and now here's another big update, out today, that gives Barry Steakfries a canine pal to run around with. Flash the Dog is coming to the update, and as you can see in the trailer below, he's cute as all get out.

Flash will help grab coins and break piggy banks for you, and he'll even ride along, both in his own little jetpack, and by hopping on the various vehicles Barry can acquire during his run. There are a few new other gadgets as well, including headphones that remix the game's music, and a "turbo boost" gadget that will add rings to hit for an extra burst of speed. Jetpack Joyride was a really high quality game when it first launched, and Halfbrick has really gone above and beyond the call of duty with all of these updates since then.

Jetpack Joyride goes to the dogs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Game rental service GameFly has decided to go all-in on mobile publishing for some reason. The service, which rents out console games in the Netflix style, and runs the Shacknews gaming news outlet, has had a pretty popular GameCenter app out on the App Store for a while now. But now it's getting into the App Store even deeper: A few weeks back, GameFly said it would team up with developers to spotlight "Game of the Day" titles on its app, and now the company is planning to outright publish some iOS games itself.

GameFly is also looking to set up its own Android App Store. Very interesting move by a company that's traditionally been mostly involved with console titles -- clearly, GameFly is reaching out to add a few new tunes to its repertoire. The Android Store is set to be released by the end of the year, while GameFly says we'll see some iOS titles published later on this summer.

GameFly wants to get into iOS publishing, create an Android App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"This is Nelson," says iPhone owner Katy McCaffrey of the picture above, posted on her Facebook. "Nelson has my stolen iPhone." McCaffrey took her iPhone on a Disney Cruise back in April, where the phone was either misplaced or stolen. But it's been found, now. Photo Stream was still running, and pictures from the iPhone have started appearing on it of Nelson and his friends and coworkers on the boat.

Disney has investigated the situation and says the phone has been recovered and will be returned to its owner when the boat that it's on is back in port. The employee in question is on "administrative leave," and his fate will presumably be determined when the current cruise is finished. Disney is doing its best to make things right, but yeah, shame on Nelson for not making sure the phone (which you have to imagine had McCaffrey's info on it, right?) was returned to its owner right away.

[Via NPR]

Stolen iPhone photos unwittingly posted by Disney cruise ship employee originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 May 2012 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Red Fly Studio is the group behind last year's great Inertia: Escape Velocity. Its latest title, Elenints, is more abstract. The name "Elenints" might come from a combination of the words "elements" and "integers". It's is a puzzle game where you place pieces on a board, trying to match up three of a kind and combine those into increasingly complex elements.

The gameplay is similar to Triple Town, which I love. Both games require you to carefully plan how you'll place pieces to make combos. But while Triple Town simply blocks off space the more you play, Elenints is more dynamic. As "creepers" spawn, you can block them with an Elenint, which means that if you can change up your plan in time, you can prevent bears from ever showing up.

That innovation alone makes Elenints worth a look, and there's also a sort of tutorial/puzzle mode that offers a nice twist on Triple Town's gameplay. Elenints is available for free on the App Store right now.

Daily iPhone App: Elenints matches Triple Town's planning with a few new tricks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 May 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those of us who have used traditional computers for a while think the iPad is pretty magical. t's super fast, super portable, and the direct interactivity is a very different experience from what we're used to with a mouse and keyboard. But those comparisons aren't as valid for children who are growing up with this technology. While the iPad is a sea change for traditional computer users, the effect of using it on young minds is still mostly undetermined.

This article in the Wall Street Journal talks about the scientists currently studying that effect. Studies on developmental experimentation usually take about three to five years, so with the iPad only available to the public for a little over two, actual research is still forthcoming. But so far, there are both good and bad effects for children using the iPad.

First, because it is so direct and interactive, scientists have seen that kids are much more easily immersed in material they read and browse on Apple's tablet. Books, especially, are ideal on tablets, because they can use sound, video, and other forms of interaction to bring students right into the content.

But the flip side of that is that kids can apparently get too immersed. Because the iPad is so focused and easy to use, too much screen time can interfere with childrens' development. On the other hand, too much of anything is obviously a mistake for toddlers. As with everything, iPad use will have to come down to what parents think is healthy, and best for that individual child.

What happens in a toddler's brain when they use an iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I first saw Pocket Planes, Nimblebit's next freemium title, running at GDC earlier this year. Being a huge fan of both Pocket Frogs and Tiny Tower, I can't wait to see it in action on my iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, the game's not out yet (it's still "coming soon"), but Nimblebit has released a trailer below, so you can at least see what the game is like and how it plays.

The game uses the same 8-bit aesthetic and characters as Tiny Tower, but instead of building floors in a building, you're growing an empire of airplanes, flying them around the world for fun and profit. You'll need to build up both planes and airports, and different types of planes fly at different speeds and have different fuel capacities, which can limit how far they can travel.

The game looks really fun. It's a little more complicated than Tiny Tower, but shouldn't be any less addictive. As soon as it's on the App Store, we'll let you know.

Pocket Planes gets a trailer, looks great originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 May 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When Siegecraft was first released on the App Store (by Crescent Moon Games, who have made some really amazing titles over the past few years), I remember it being marketed as "Angry Birds in 3D." And that description kind of works -- you are indeed flinging various weapons (though not of the aviary kind) at structures and trying to bring them down.

But I think a description like "active tower defense" works a little bit better. In Siegecraft, you are building towers, but instead of them just firing away on their own, you need to aim and fire them yourself, defending against invaders and trying to lay siege to enemy towns. The action is fast and fun, and there's a lot of it: You can play six campaigns with over twenty levels each, and three different races with their own abilities and towers. There's even turn-based multiplayer included, and if you play the game on iPad, there's extra content to see there as well.

Plus, Siegecraft is on sale right now, for exactly zero dollars. At that price, it's a must-play. That Angry Birds comparison might not have been all that apt, but there's a lot of fun here anyway.

Daily iPhone App: Siegecraft lays siege on the App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Subatomic Studios, the makers of one of the iPhone's biggest early titles, Fieldrunners, have announced that a sequel is headed our way as soon as next month. The popular tower defense title is being updated with twenty new hand-painted levels, twenty towers (including a Link tower, which seems to be two towers with a deadly attack between them, as well as both a Nuke and a Railgun tower, for AoE or sniper damage, respectively). And there are two new game modes, to go along with the standard survival and time trial maps, there are now puzzle and sudden death maps to play as well.

It sounds like a great title -- if you've been playing iPhone games since the beginning, you'll probably have fond memories of Fieldrunners. Fieldrunners 2 will arrive on the iPhone at the end of June, with an iPad version coming soon after.

Fieldrunners 2 coming next month originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here's some good news for TiVo users: The DVR company is planning to follow the lead of other broadcasting services, and provide for streaming of recorded TiVo content to iOS devices later this summer. To do so, you'll need to have a TiVo Premiere, which is the company's web-connected DVR streaming device, as well as an external box called the TiVo Stream, which will take recorded content on the DVR, and set it up to stream through the Internet to your mobile device.

And by "mobile device," we mean the iPhone or the iPad -- TiVo has only mentioned the capability for Apple devices so far, so Android users are out of luck for now. There are already plenty of ways to watch TV or movies on your iPhone (from Netflix and Hulu to full cable services and even add-on accessories), but if you already have a TiVo grabbing content for you, a device like this should make it easy to watch that content anywhere.

TiVo planning iOS streaming for this summer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Universal Movie Studios recently released an official iOS game, of all thing. Universal Movie Tycoon is a social free-to-play game that allows you to make and build Universal Studios with properties from the company's huge catalog. To celebrate the release of the game, Universal has teamed up with TUAW to give Universal movie prize packs to three lucky readers.

Each prize pack includes a US$15 iTunes gift card (for you to spend on in-app purchases in Universal Movie Tycoon, or whatever else you would like from iTunes), as well as six great Universal DVDs: Fast and Furious Collect, Fast Five, Happy Gilmore, Seabiscuit, Dazed and Confused, and Liar Liar. To enter, put your information in the entry form below, and we'll choose three entrants to get the DVDs and the gift card. Good luck!

As usual, here are the official rules:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button.
• The entry must be made before May 23, 2012 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Three winner will be selected and each will receive a $15 iTunes gift card and the DVDs listed above.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Enter to win a prize pack from Universal Movie Tycoon originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Spacetime Studios has made quite a name for itself with its popular mobile MMOs, Pocket Legends and Star Legends. The company was originally founded to make full-scale PC MMOs like World of Warcraft, but when the plug got pulled on a big project, Spacetime had to go back to the drawing board and decided to bring its assets over to the burgeoning mobile/iOS space. Since then, Pocket and Star Legends have both earned tons of players (and in-app purchases), and Spacetime recently launched its third title, Dark Legends, first on Chrome's in-browser App Store, and now on iOS.

In a weird way, you might call Dark Legends Spacetime's first original title. Pocket Legends is heavily influenced by World of Warcraft (though it was launched as "WoW on an iPhone," which is quite a feat in itself), and Star Legends was heavily based on Spacetime's canceled MMO project. Dark Legends, however, is all new, and you can tell as you play it. It's a little bloodier than Spacetime's other projects, with a plot involving vampires and dark arts, and unlike Spacetime's other titles, classes are out, with players developing their characters by investing in various talent trees instead.

The final product is an interesting move for Spacetime. The title even has some social game elements, and while I'm not sure those are entirely successful, it's good to see Spacetime experimenting. I its their next title will be a little better than this one, given how much they're learning, but Dark Legends is still a lot of fun. It's free on the App Store right now.

Daily iPhone App: Dark Legends takes Spacetime's formula to the next step originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coda is Panic's legendary Mac app for editing HTML and other web files, and today Panic has announced the followup to Coda, called (surprise) Coda 2. As you might expect, the hugemongous feature list over on the Coda site has web developers frothed up into a frenzy of anticipation. In addition to the usual suspects like a better editor, UI improvements, and compatibility with FTP, iCloud, and other services, Coda 2 will also include a built-in MySQL editor, code-folding to get code you don't need to see out of the way, and an active path bar to let you find any file you need right away. It looks like the premiere tool for working with web code -- Coda 2 -- will be available on May 24.

And that's not all. Panic is also releasing Diet Coda for the iPad on the App Store that day as well. Diet Coda is a version of the editor engineered for the iPad itself, and not only brings the best of Coda's features to Apple's tablet, but also works with a Coda 2 installation for "AirPreview": Make changes in Coda 2, see them live on your iPad right away. Diet Coda will be $9.99.

Coda 2 for Mac, Diet Coda for iPad available May 24 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While EA has been bullish as all get out on its mobile and iOS properties, we haven't seen the other big dog in game publishing, Activision, act on the same impulses, despite a few hits with the Call of Duty Zombies games. But here's a first indication that Bobby Kotick and company do have a mobile strategy: They've hired former Team 17 (of Worms fame) Martyn Brown to put together a mobile studio in the UK.

There's no word on the studio's name yet, or what they're going to be working on (though presumably, it'll be iOS titles at least, with other mobile platforms on tap in the future). The move is being seen as a vote of confidence by Activision for UK game development, especially since in the past few years that company hasn't been very friendly to its UK game studios, closing them down left and right. I'm very curious to see how this works out -- hopefully, Activision has realized along with EA that iOS development is one of the best parts of the game industry to be in right now.

Activision hires Team 17 founder to start new UK mobile studio originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The big question with Sonic games is always if it's as good as the old titles on the Sega Genesis and the Dreamcast, and as usual, the answer here with Sonic 4 Episode 2 (yes, that's how they're releasing these) is unfortunately no. But that's not really a bad thing -- this is pretty good 2D Sonic, put together with quality graphics and plenty of content to play through. It won't compare to the old titles (because what does, really?), but if you're just looking for Sonic and Tails to run around in a colorful world, you'll get it here.

Yes, Tails is back in this one, and he and Sonic team up to run, do a little flying, and race through lots and lots of levels together. You can even hook up with two players over Bluetooth, one on Sonic and the other on Tails. Just like the last Sonic on iOS, the proceedings are plenty colorful, varied from stage to stage, and while the controls are only virtual (actually, iCade compatibility would be a nice bonus here), they work about as well as virtual controls can.

Sonic 4 Episode 2 isn't a bad game at all, though like all of the other Sonic titles out there, it probably won't live up to your memories of what the series once was. If you want old school Sonic action, and wouldn't mind seeing Tails in 2D after quite a while away, the game's available for $6.99 in a universal version right now.

Daily iPhone App: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 brings Sonic back again originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We reported that Verizon was going to shut down unlimited data plans when customers purchased new phones and shared data plans were available. The company now says that while it does want to try and phase unlimited data plans out, there will still be options for customers currently under unlimited plans who are aiming to buy new phones.

Basically, if you want to be eligible for a discount on a new phone, Verizon is going to try to sell you on switching off from the unlimited plan, over to something that helps the company budget data more easily (not to mention opens you up to extra fees, if you happen to go over your data cap). Customers who currently have unlimited plans and pay full price for a new phone, will get the reward of keeping their unlimited plans for the foreseeable future. Those of you willing to pay won't have to worry.

I personally have an unlimited data plan with AT&T, and it's been more than worth it, given all of the browsing, sharing, and reading I do on my iPhone. I can see why companies would rather get their customers on more budgeted plans, but as a customer, I'd much rather pay for unlimited service than have to worry about how much data I'm using all the time.

Verizon not closing unlimited plans yet, but still trying to transition customers away originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 May 2012 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been almost four years since Apple debuted its App Store platform for iOS (and then the Mac), and MacStories has an in-depth look back at that time. In just four short years, Apple has gone from saying that all we'd need on iOS are web apps, to a millions of dollars a year industry that supports almost half a million jobs. Needless to say, that's phenomenal growth.

But what's most interesting about the growth of the App Store is how the apps themselves have changed. MacStories writes about that initial push -- in those early days, the quality of the software was very low, and there were a lot of "speculators," for lack of a better term: Developers who just released quick and dirty apps (honestly, fart apps is what most of them were) to try and make a little bit of money. App branding, too, has come a long way. In the early days it was all about search and gaming the system, and these days, there are more ways to find good apps than ever.

At the same time, it's also harder for developers to make their mark in an increasingly crowded market. Apple's own success may be its biggest problem. The App Store has grown in a huge way over the past four years, and that may make it harder for both developers and Apple to figure out how to best run it going forward.

MacStories looks at four years of the App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Our friends at Joystiq have procured the first gameplay footage of Epic's followup to the popular Infinity Blade series, called Infinity Blade: Dungeons, and you can get a look at it below. As you can see, it's set in the same world as the first two games, but features a completely different take on gameplay, using gestures to fight baddies from a top-down view rather than a fixed camera.

There are also some interesting crafting mechanics, like rubbing out imperfections on a blade you're making, or tapping dents in metal to clear them off. Infinity Blade: Dungeons was announced at the iPad 3 Apple event, and is supposed to be out later on this year.

Infinity Blade: Dungeons gameplay revealed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 May 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

IK Multimedia's iRig Mix mixer has finally arrived in stores, and it's just as impressive now as it was back when we saw it in action at CES this year. The mixer is sturdy and impressively small, and it has hookups for two different sources, including two iOS devices or any other stereo input source, as well as an extra mic/instrument input. Those sounds can then be mixed together, balanced, or tweaked with EQ, and sent out to a headphone jack on the bottom, and a stereo RCA output on the top. In short, this is a great full-featured mixer for mixing together sounds from almost anywhere.

The biggest bonus here, however, is that the mixer also works with IK's apps on the App Store, so downloading DJ Rig or any of the other apps will sound extra nice coming through this thing. And there's an X-Sync feature built in to the mixer that works with the DJ app to beatmix for you, making for super simple DJing: Just start up the apps on your iOS devices, turn X-Sync on, and the mixer will beatmatch automatically.

The whole kit is very impressive, and even if you just need a mixer for occasional audio use (unrelated to your iOS devices), it would probably work great. Plus, it's out now for just $99, and good luck finding an equivalent professional mixer at that price.

iRig Mix out now, impresses with size and features originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chillingo's Feed Me Oil was released a little while ago, and it's a solid game that didn't get a ton of press when it first dropped. The reason for that is probably because it's somewhat similar to Where's My Water, in that you're trying to get a fluid simulation into a certain place on the screen by tweaking physics-enabled objects in the world. But while Where's My Water was all about digging, Feed Me Oil is much more about creation -- you place objects like platforms and wheels in the world to try and get the "black gold" flowing where you need it to go.

Like pretty much all of Chillingo's other titles, there is lots of content here to play through: Lots of levels and puzzles with an increasing number of objects to use and move around to your heart's content. And while the game is on the iPhone as well, it's much better on the iPad -- the graphics are bigger and the objects are easier to manipulate in the game's space. Feed Me Oil is an excellent game, and especially because it's on sale today for completely free. Check it out.

Daily iPad App: Feed Me Oil HD originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bejeweled is probably the most popular mobile game out there, but for some reason, PopCap has never actually released it officially on the iPad. It's been out on the iPhone before, and of course you could play it on Apple's tablet, but it has never run natively. Until now, that is -- PopCap has finally released Bejeweled HD, which means you can now play the grandaddy of gem matching games in full Retina Display style.

The game is now $3.99, and it's got special modes like Diamond Mine and Butterflies, four special gems to put together, and all of the usual extras that we've seen in Bejeweled games before. If you think the price is high, PopCap has sales on its titles pretty often, so we may eventually see it drop, but keep in mind this is an iPad title, and PopCap usually tries to keep those up as long as possible.

PopCap finally releases Bejeweled HD on iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most takes on real-time strategy for the App Store have to corrupt the form in some way, yet some still turn out well (see Total War Battles for a a great RTS game that takes a different turn). But Amoebattle impressively does RTS as you expect it. You choose units, send them around exploring, and tap to attack or move through the fog of war in real-time.

There are nine different unit types to be discovered during the campaign, and each has its own attributes and abilities. The graphics are cute and colorful, but the tactics are hard to master -- especially near the end, when the game has no shortage of challenges to overcome.

Amoebattle is an excellent RTS title for Apple's touchscreen devices, something that a lot of RTS fans have dreamed about ever since the iPad was first announced. It's not perfect, but it doesn't skimp from RTS traditions, even on a mobile device, and it holds up to them well. The game is US$4.99, in a universal version, on the App Store now.

Daily iPhone App: Amoebattle does RTS right originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Loop spotted a new book over at Amazon called "Who Was Steve Jobs?" that appears to be a children's book, of all things. It's part of a series of books designed to tell kids about famous historical figures and why they're so admired or well-known.

Looking inside the book shows that it talks about Steve's life and times, all the way from the garage in California, up through the NeXT days, and to "Think Different" and "Insanely Great." There's also a detailed timeline included, and even a bibliography of sources. This might be just the thing for any little ones who could use a primer on Jobs and his life.

Steve Jobs subject of new children's book originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 May 2012 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Republique is an upcoming iOS title that's made a lot of noise by getting funded on Kickstarter recently, to the tune of half a million dollars, but I've had one nagging question about it: How exactly are they going to distribute the app to all of their backers? The most obvious solution would be to put a password gate inside of an app, but Apple doesn't allow that. If you have to lock content in your app, then you're clearly selling it outside of the App Store, which means you're dodging Apple's 30% cut. So what's their plan? Republique hasn't yet said, only that it's still being decided.

Fortunately, however, here's the answer. The folks behind Zombies, Run! say that all they had to do to distribute an app for Kickstarter backers was ... ask. Apple agreed to let them have two versions of the app on the store -- one just for sale, and another that was free with a password gate in it. There were two limits, however: There had to be at least some content in the password-closed app, so people who just randomly came across it weren't confused. And Apple made the app developers take down any preorders once the app went live, so that Apple didn't lose any sales of its own.

Good to hear that distribution this way is possible -- there are a few other Kickstarter projects that will need to make use of a plan like this when they are released. The key, according to Six to Start, is to get in touch with Apple early, and keep that communication flowing.

How to distribute Kickstarter apps: Ask Apple originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Inkling is an e-book publishing platform that's currently running an app on the App Store, and while Apple has been making an official push for more textbooks in iBooks, Inkling is strengthening its own holdings. The company has made a deal with Follett to bring hundreds of Inkling titles into college bookstores, where students can buy the ebook content right there in person.

The company is selling whole textbooks, or it's also offering a program called "Pick 3," which allows students to grab three chapters of a book at a time, keeping costs down if teachers or students don't need the whole book. Overall, this may not be cheaper, however -- don't forget that students who buy real books can often have a chance to resell them, or can buy them used, and with ebooks, there's obviously no resale value.

The Follett deal should be ready by the time students head back to school in the fall.

Inkling to sell iPad textbooks in over 900 college bookstores originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ozgood is an interesting little iPhone game from a few developers who've worked for bigger game companies, and have recently gone independent. Most iPhone games deal with the platform's hardware by either just going with 2D graphics or trying relatively simple 3D -- it's usually only bigger developers like Epic Games that can really use an engine like Unreal to wring really colorful graphics out of the iPhone. But RunWilder, the developers of Ozgood, took an entirely different tack: They took video of a real life puppet, and then put it together with 2D backgrounds and 3D items to make this virtual pet game.

The result is a very unique kind of wonderful. Ozgood is a crazy little guy full of personality, and the app (which is free right now) is full of content. There's a "story" you can play through by feeding Ozgood certain things and interacting with him in certain ways, there's a "studio mode" where you can use him to make messages to send along to friends, and there's an ongoing metagame as well, where you can feed Ozgood a fake soda called Chugg and even share six packs of it with your friends online.

The app is silly -- it's very kid friendly, and Ozgood can sometimes be crass with his burps and various bodily functions. But even for adults, it's wild to see how these developers used a puppet to make this app, and there's clearly a lot of skill in how it's all put together. Ozgood is a free universal download that's definitely worth checking out.

Daily iPhone App: Ozgood is a lovable piece of puppet tech originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I first saw Chillingo's latest title, This Could Hurt, at GDC earlier this year, and back then I didn't really get into it. It's a one-button title that I thought looked a little too simple. But after giving it a longer try post-release, there's actually a lot of surprising depth here. Yes, there's only one control (touch on the screen to make your character stand still), but developers Orange Agenda do an impressive job of wringing a whole lot of gameplay out of just that one mechanic.

As your character runs along, he'll come across lots of strange contraptions designed to hurt him, and the goal of the game is to time your stopping just right so that he isn't harmed by whatever dangers await him. There are powerups in the game, but they mostly just involve moving slower or faster, so really, the game is just a list of ways to test your timing skills. And that list is surprisingly long. There are forty levels in the game, and each one of them puts a new spin on ways to try and avoid getting hurt.

This Could Hurt does a whole lot with very little, and on the App Store, that's always impressive. It's available for 99 cents right now.

Daily iPhone App: This Could Hurt dodges danger with ease originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here at TUAW on the tipline, we have heard no end of complaints about MobileMe. Some days, it seems like every other tip is about how much of a mess MobileMe email is. Which is probably why Apple is finally shutting the service down in a month or so, transitioning over to the new iCloud instead. But as TidBITS notes, MobileMe users will still be able to use their email addresses even after the service is gone: All you'll have to do is follow the instructions on the transitions page to set an option on the main site, and then you'll be able to keep accessing your MobileMe email even after the transition.

My advice? Unless you're thrilled with MobileMe, it's time to move on to one of the many great free email services, of which Gmail is my first recommendation. Yes, changing your email address is a pain, and there are probably some of you out there on so many lists and services that you'll stick with MobileMe as long as you can. But if you want my advice, use this opportunity to get out while you can. Good luck!

How to keep MobileMe mail working after iCloud turns it off originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Update: Engadget smelled something funny in this story, and turns out they were right; Kaspersky is now saying that the comment about "working with Apple to analyze OS X" was taken out of context, and that Apple has not invited the security firm to analyze its desktop OS. Full statement is here.

The CTO of computer security firm Kaspersky Lab says was quoted as saying that Apple has asked them to take a look at Mac security, and the malware targeting it. Nikolai Grebennikov says that the "Mac OS is really vulnerable," and that the company's "first investigations show Apple doesn't pay enough attention to security."

Go figure -- the head of a security firm claiming that people should spend more money and time on security. Who knew? But the recent small outbreaks of malware targeting Macs gives a little more credence to these claims, and if Grebennikov (whose firm has publicly gone after Apple on this before) is to be believed, then Cupertino is finally ready to hear about possible improvements. Grebennikov agrees that there hasn't been any iOS-specific malware spotted yet, but he says we'll probably see it in the next year or so. Hopefully, if Kaspersky is working with Apple, they'll be able to keep the OSes completely secure anyway.

[via MacRumors]

Apple doesn't invite Kaspersky Lab to examine Mac security (Updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Swordigo is a really impressive venture on iOS. It's a 2D-action platformer with a lot of nice RPG elements. In other words, it's a 2D Legend of Zelda title, and it lives up to that comparison quite well.

There are a few weak points. The graphics aren't exactly impressive though they do get the job done, and the story is barely there and hamstrung by some translation issues, I think. But neither of those things matters much, because the game is well designed. Every swing of your sword pops up XP into a meter, which feels very rewarding and makes the whole affair a lot of fun.

Plus, Swordigo is free today, so you should probably just go download it. It's a quality game anyway, but for zero dollars, it's a must-get.

Daily iPhone App: Swordigo hacks and slashes in 2D originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jetpack Joyride has followed in the steps of Halfbrick Studios' Fruit Ninja and is now playable in a free version over on Facebook. The new game is very similar to the iOS version. In fact, it's strikingly similar, given that there aren't any really new social elements, and even the gadgets (just arrived on iOS) are implemented and ready to buy in the store. In fact, while Fruit Ninja was a nice solid port with some original features, Jetpack Joyride seems a little more of an afterthought unfortunately.

Still, it's fun, and it's completely free. I like it, and even though it's not quite as fitting as the Fruit Ninja port, it's still Jetpack Joyride. So if you can't pull out your iPhone to play at work, maybe you can do it on Facebook.

Jetpack Joyride arrives on Facebook for free originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We're hearing a little more every day about Rovio's next big mobile title. Originally, we thought that the game would be a truly original release, but that's not quite the case: The company has instead bought the rights to Casey's Contraptions, a really excellent iOS title that came out last year, and now Rovio CEO Mikael Hed says it's going to rebrand the property as "Amazing Alex." Other than the name, however, it sounds like Rovio's keeping the Rube Goldberg simulator mostly the same. Hopefully they will include the great multiplayer social system that was originally built for it.

Casey's Contraptions co-creator Noel Llopis has also put up a blog post explaining his side of the deal with Rovio, and he says he and Miguel Friginal won't be involved in development of the game going forward at all. They never expected to sell the property, but when Rovio came along with "an offer we couldn't refuse," they gave it up. Llopis said he expects big things for the game: Sites who didn't cover Casey's Contraptions at all have already mentioned Amazing Alex, so Rovio's big app machine is already working its magic.

Llopis also says the Rovio deal will allow him a lot of creative freedom going forward. He's not interested in building a company of his own, and says money won't even be a consideration for his next title. That, at least, is great. Rovio might have earned the ire of some developers for their overwhelming App Store success with Angry Birds, but in this case, it sounds like they made a smart move with a good title that will leave everyone involved happy.

Thanks, Mikko!

Rovio rebranding Casey's Contraptions as "Amazing Alex" originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 May 2012 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here at TUAW, we've found ourselves covering lawsuits around Apple quite a bit lately, especially in Germany, where Apple is getting sued by lots of companies, and then getting shut down by the courts. Ever wonder why so many companies sue in Germany, or why so many of Apple's arguments are stayed? Here comes FOSS Patents to the rescue, with this great piece on Apple's legal troubles.

The long and short of it is that in Germany, patents are challenged along two paths: Invalidity, and infringement. That is, first, a patent is examined for whether it's valid or not, and then second, it's examined against the product in question for actual infringement. Validity is determined much more quickly than infringement, and in Germany and the European patent system, the two paths are much more separate than anywhere else.

And why are Apple's patents being stayed so much? FOSS suggests that Apple expects this -- it's using a shotgun style for its patent fights, hoping that one of them eventually gets through and puts them at a point where they can really exploit that winning patent for all it's worth. Apple certainly has the cash and resources to play a lot of cards, and that's exactly what it's doing. Sooner or later, one of Apple's patents will stand, and then it will use that powerful patent to block competitors whenever possible.

Why Apple's many patents in Germany get stayed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The latest version of the acclaimed text editor BBEdit is out and available now, and as you can see on the official site, it features a whole host of fixes and updates to existing features. A number of crashing and bug problems have been solved, so the whole app should run smoother than ever before.

BBEdit is a terrific editor whether you're putting together HTML and CSS, code in various languages, or just typing up to-do lists and quick blog posts. It's available in an individual license for $49.99, or you can get it in the Mac App Store for the same price.

BBEdit 10.1.2 now available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Off the Leash is a game that arrived a little while ago on the iPhone, but it's gotten a few updates since I first played it, and it just so happens to be free on May 10. It's an endless runner, but instead of a side-scroller, it runs from the top down, and it's got a few new elements to this genre. First, it's time-based, so not only do you need to run for as far as possible, but your goal is to hit the next checkpoint within a certain time limit.

Second, as your little dog runs along, you can "recruit" other dogs to run with you, which up your speed but also make it harder to maneuver around. Eventually, you hit a boundary (the cops catch your little dog that's been running amuck), and then you start over again from the beginning.

Off the Leash is great fun. The graphics are colorful and funny, the game's tilt-to-steer challenge is tough but not overwhelming at all, and especially at the low price, it's a great game to have on your iPhone. Definitely give it a download.

Daily iPhone App: Off the Leash provides chaotic canine fun originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Phil Hassey's title Dynamite Jack, first seen by us at GDC earlier this year, is now available for purchase on Steam. It's only $4.99 usually, and it's actually on a launch sale for $3.99 right now, so if you need something to play this weekend, it would be a perfect choice. I really like the game's combination of stealth and action, and it's got a nice retro style that's clear, simple, and fun.

The only reason you might not want to grab it just yet is that it's still coming to the Mac App Store soon -- Hassey says that he couldn't quite swing a simultaneous release, so the Mac App Store version might have a few extra features that the version on Steam doesn't have just yet. And Hassey says he's also going to be hard at work on an iPad version as well, so if you'd rather play the game on a tablet, you might want to wait. But the game is a lot of fun, and at just a few bucks, it's worth a look for sure.

Dynamite Jack now available originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rovio's Ville Heijari has confirmed the rumor we heard yesterday is true, and Rovio is taking over the iOS Casey's Contraptions title from developers Noel Llopis and Miguel A. Friginal. We're still not sure what the exact business agreement is, but it sounds like an acquisition of all rights associated with the game, and Rovio seems to also have kept on Llopis and Friginal as developers for their services. The Casey's Contraptions title is going to be removed from the App Store for now, and return as an official Rovio title for both iOS and Android (along with other platforms, possibly, later on this year).

As I said yesterday, this is a great move for everyone involved: Rovio gets a high quality title that really appeals to casual gamers of all stripes (with a really impressive social and content sharing backend), and Llopis and Friginal get the opportunity to bring their really excellent game to a much larger audience. Casey's Contraptions was always a great title, but now it'll have the Angry Birds-fueled marketing machine behind it all the way.

Confirmed: Rovio acquires rights to Casey's Contraptions originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.