Controller Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

MIT makes a smartphone-controlled bartender

by Mike Schramm (May 13th, 2013)

We've seen beer-pouring robots before, but MIT has recently put together a smartphone-controlled robot bartender, with three robot arms that can pour and mix up to 100 different alcoholic and non-alcoholic flavors. The Makr Shakr lets you order up a drink directly from your iPhone, and then it ...

Airturn is a Bluetooth-enabled music page turner for iPad

by Mike Schramm (Feb 1st, 2013)

We heard about the Airturn when it first released a few years ago, and the company is here at Macworld/iWorld 2013 this week in San Francisco, showing off both the older two-pedal unit, and the brand new four-pedal unit you can see above. That piece in the middle of each unit is a Bluetooth ...

Spicebox's Mauz aims to make your iPhone an all-in-one controller

by Mike Schramm (Jan 31st, 2013)

One of the weirdest devices I've seen so far here at Macworld is Spicebox's Mauz controller. The company recently started a Kickstarter for the project (their second, after a case that tracks your opening of multiple beers called the Intoxicase), but even though that campaign hasn't yet come ...

CES: Phone Joy gets a Kickstartered controller ready for production

by Mike Schramm (Jan 10th, 2013)

PhoneJoy is one of many companies putting together controllers for iOS devices, but unlike, say, the Gameloft-only Duo Gamer controller, PhoneJoy is aiming to make their button pad as accessible and open as possible. The company successfully raised funds through Kickstarter last year, and here ...

CES 2013: Duo Gamer controller sees success after a half price cut

by Mike Schramm (Jan 9th, 2013)

We posted about the Duo Gamer iPhone controller back when it first released in October of last year, but I hadn't gotten a chance to try it out yet. Fortunately, Duo is here on the floor of CES this week, and they of course had the controller on display and available for a demo. It's actually ...

Ion Audio shows off its latest offerings, including the AirCopy and the iDJ2Go, at CES 2013

by Mike Schramm (Jan 8th, 2013)

Ion Audio has a booth set up as usual on the floor of this year's International CES, where it is showing off a number of new and fairly new products for anyone coming to see them. This company is one of our favorites -- they make some really excellent iOS accessories and fun devices (including ...

ThinkGeek's 8-bitty controller isn't bad, if you already want one

by Mike Schramm (Oct 31st, 2012)

ThinkGeek's iCade started out as an April Fool's joke. In conjunction with the folks at Ion Audio, that product actually came to be, and it's been so successful that it's launched a whole line of different controller products, most of them from Ion. But ThinkGeek isn't done with this brand yet. ...

iControlPad 2 reaches Kickstarter goal, shipping later this year

by Mike Schramm (Oct 12th, 2012)

I'll be honest: I thought that US$150,000 as a Kickstarter goal for the iControlPad 2 wireless controller was too high, but it turns out I was completely wrong. Not only was the project funded, but backers have pledged $190k and still counting with a few more hours to go. The impressive ...

iCade's 8-bitty controller now out

by Mike Schramm (Oct 10th, 2012)

That "8-bitty" wireless controller announced by ThinkGeek a while ago is now available in the company's online store. For US$29.99, you can grab hold of an NES-style retro controller, with not two but four buttons designed to work with iOS games across the iCade protocol. This is not an Ion ...

Duo Games reveals Gameloft-branded iOS controller, coming very soon

by Mike Schramm (Oct 2nd, 2012)

iOS publisher Gameloft has teamed up with Duo Games to make a Bluetooth-powered controller for iOS games, called the Duo Gamer controller. As you can see above, the controller comes with a tablet stand for your iPad. It features a d-pad and four buttons (as is pretty standard for these sorts of ...

Use the Xbox 360 controller on your Mac

by Mike Schramm (Sep 13th, 2012)

TUAW reader Jon emailed in the other day to ask about possible game controllers for Mac, and while we've covered this issue before, it has definitely been a while. In short, the best way to use a game controller with your Mac is just to use one of the better controllers out there: the wired ...

The iCade Mobile puts console-style buttons on your iPhone or iPod touch

by Mike Schramm (Jun 12th, 2012)

We first heard about the iCade Mobile back when the unit was introduced at CES this year, and as mentioned last week, it's now out and available. I've been playing with one for a couple of weeks now, and I can tell you that it's an impressive device. The unit is sturdy, the buttons work ...

Sphero adds first third-party app with Last Fish

by Mike Schramm (Jun 1st, 2012)

Sphero is a little rolling ball robot that's controlled via iOS or other mobile devices. We last covered it when it was being previewed at CES, but it's been available for a while, either online or at a Brookstone store near you. But now the little ball has added a new trick to its repertoire: ...

ThinkGeek announces 8-bitty wireless controller for iPad, iPhone

by Mike Schramm (Feb 13th, 2012)

It looks like ThinkGeek and Ion Audio were holding out on us when we visited the companies' booth at CES earlier this year. (See update below) In addition to the three new devices already announced for the iCade lineup by Ion (that allows you to use various controls for iOS games across ...

Hands-on with ION Audio's Guitar Apprentice and new iCade models

by Mike Schramm (Jan 18th, 2012)

We first saw ION Audio's really impressive iCade followups at the beginning of CES last week during CES Unveiled, but that little taste at the crowded event wasn't really enough for us, so later in the week we went by the company's booth to get a better look and actually hold and play with the ...