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Filed under: Gaming, Freeware, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

OpenFeint introduces multiplayer, Flick Fishing goes Plus+

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Sep 3rd, 2009

The battle of the social gaming services on the iPhone continues. OpenFeint's latest weapon is multiplayer -- they're working on a way for games developers on the iPhone to quickly include multiplayer (it doesn't actually say real-time, so we'll assume it's the mix of ghosting and turn-based multiplayer that they talked about in their interview with us) in their games. They're asking interested developers to sign up to the open beta program, and they'll start rolling out the functionality soon. Even though it seems early in the process, it's a pretty cool idea, and it could definitely serve to set OpenFeint apart even more from the other services trying to attract developers to their social and multiplayer features.

Speaking of social features, Freeverse told us a little while ago that they were going to use ngmoco's Plus+ for their games, and apparently they've now integrated the popular Flick Fishing with the service. The additions allow for leaderboards, in-game achievements, and multiple profiles and saves on one iPhone, so you can compete with your friends on other iPhones or right there on your own. Flick Fishing was already an excellent game, and with the added social functionality of Plus+, it's worth heading back out onto the water to compete and compare your games with your friends.

As I've said before, having multiple companies competing for these social functions is turning out to be a real boon for consumers and developers alike. All of these services are able to bring out a lot of cross-game features that developers by themselves would have taken much longer to put together on their own.

Tags: achievements, features, flick-fishing, freeverse, gaming, iphone, leaderboards, ngmoco, openfeint, plus, social

Filed under: iPhone, App Review

Drinkspiration: a drink recommendation app with a twist

by Sang Tang (RSS feed) on Jul 9th, 2009

The following app is rated for mature audiences. Reader discretion is advised.

I just had to write that, because, in the spirit of liability, Drinkspiration by Absolut (iTunes link) made me confirm my birth date upon initial launch. That, and I'd have a major guilt trip if little Jimmy went out on an all-night drinking bender because some iPhone app encouraged him to do so.

Like legions of apps before it, Drinkspiration aims to solve an age old question that has dogged mankind: What drink should I get? And while some like featured apps provide similar functionality, it's Drinkspiration's delivery that sets it apart from the crowd.

Continue reading “Drinkspiration: a drink recommendation app with a twist”

Tags: absolut, app review, AppReview, beverage, drink, drinking, facebook, iphone, liquor, social, twitter

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Software, Features, Internet, Apple, TUAW Interview, Developer, iPhone, SDK

TUAW interviews OpenFeint's Peter Relan, Net Jacobsson, and Jason Citron

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jun 25th, 2009

Danielle Cassley and Jason Citron are the folks with their names on Aurora Feint, but as Danielle told us in an interview a while ago, Peter Relan is the real mastermind behind the growing Feint empire. Not only did he put the two together in an idea lab, but he's one of the driving forces behind the OpenFeint enterprise. Under his oversight, the Feint folks have swelled to become one of the major forces behind iPhone gaming (and thus, behind the iPhone's app ecosystem itself).

Netanel "Net" Jacobsson is a newer addition -- he's previously worked with Sony Ericsson on their mobile devices and Facebook on their own growing app empire, and now he's arrived at OpenFeint to help them use the lessons he's learned at the biggest online social networks around on their social software. Get the sense of how big this is yet? Relan, Jacobsen, and Citron all have pretty big ideas about where iPhone gaming is going, and as 3.0 comes down the pike and introduces a whole set of new features from Apple, they're in the best seat they can be in to do exactly what they want to do.

TUAW sat down with the three last week, and chatted about iPhone 3.0 and why it's such a big deal for developers, how they're going to approach microtransactions (carefully), and what's coming next for OpenFeint now that they've rounded up a whole stable full of developers implementing their backbone. Click "read more" to continue.

Continue reading “TUAW interviews OpenFeint's Peter Relan, Net Jacobsson, and Jason Citron”

Tags: aurora-feint, engaged, engagement, facebook, future, gaming, in-app-purchase, interview, iphone, iphone-3.0, jason-citron, mafia-wars, mechanic, microtransactions, net-jacobsen, openfeint, peter-relan, pocket-god, push-notification, social, social-networking, software, tuaw

Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, App Store, App Review

First Look: Pixelpipe 1.4.1

by Tim Wasson (RSS feed) on Jun 23rd, 2009

So you got a shiny new 3GS (no more space!) and are looking for new ways to play with the new videos you've recorded? If the iPhone's built in YouTube uploading functionality isn't quite enough for you, Pixelpipe has stepped in to fill the void and allow you to send that video (or photo) to over 40 services quickly and easily.

I set up the application to send to Twitter and Picasa, and the uploads went exactly as advertised. It should be noted that when sending video to services that don't support direct uploads (such as Twitter), the video is sent to Pixelpipe's servers and linked from your account. On the Pixelpipe site, the video is displayed in its native .mov format, so PC owners may have a hard time viewing the video if they don't have QuickTime installed.

Pixelpipe (iTunes link) is a free download and supports uploading video to 40 services. Sorry, iPod touch users, this one is an iPhone-only application.

Tags: iphone, iphone 3gs, Iphone3gs, movie, picasa, pixelpipe, quicktime, sharing, social, twitter, video, video upload, VideoUpload, youtube

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone

Former Blizzard devs at Booyah plan iPhone app

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on May 1st, 2009

Booyah is a company put together by former Blizzard devs (makers of classic games like World of Warcraft and Diablo) and funded by the iFund, and they've been keeping fairly mum on what they've been up to. Until now, that is -- they've updated their website and dropped a press release, and it looks like they're working on some iPhone software. What kind of software, exactly? Well, we're not quite sure -- it sounds like a game, because there's playing involved, but they're also using phrases like "life companion" and "social experiment," which makes it sound like a social networking app with some sort of game or virtual pet mechanics involved. And they are also hinting at a larger pattern of charity or cause-based action -- they told Kotaku that they want to tap into people's "life passions," and Gamasutra was told that the app itself is a "kernel miniproduct" that they plan to expand into a larger movement.

Blizzard's own Rob Pardo is an advisor to the team (and the product was originally pitched to Blizzard), but really that's the only clue here that this is anything more than startup hype -- we've seen social networks flash and fizzle already on the iPhone, and even game-based social networking tools like Foursquare haven't really found their tipping point yet.

But we won't judge fully before we've seen it -- Booyah says they'll be showing their cards "this spring" (so before June 21st?). We'll be watching.

Tags: app, blizzard, booyah, developers, gamasutra, hype, iphone, life-companion, rob-pardo, social, social-experiment

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, Developer

OpenFeint announces iPromote, readies to take over iPhone gaming

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Apr 27th, 2009

During our interview with Danielle Cassley of Aurora Feint, I talked with her about OpenFeint, the code backbone for a social network that iPhone developers can use in their apps. Since then, a number of developers have added the interface to their apps, perhaps most notably Pocket God, which has used the tool only to create the barest of online leaderboards so far.

Now the crafty folks at Aurora Feint are revealing another trick up their sleeve: something they're calling iPromote. It sounds like more or less a crosspromotion deal for various apps and games in the OpenFeint system -- certain apps will give their users a chance to pick up other paid apps under the OpenFeint umbrella. While the press release is fairly vague about exactly how it works (they say there will be "a revenue sharing model for sales that occur through OpenFeint"), it'll probably show up in the user's interface as links or promotions for other apps.

There are quite a few of those apps -- Aurora Feint lists over 20 apps that have already integrated OpenFeint, and there are more on the way, including some high-profile apps from Chillingo. Even our friend Steve Demeter, who was working on his own community platform called Onyx, has abandoned work on that to join up with OpenFeint. There are at least a few other such platforms like this that were vying for widespread acceptance on the iPhone, but it looks like OpenFeint is primed to take the top spot. Which means we'll probably be seeing lots of it in applications near you very soon.

Tags: apps, aurora-feint, danielle-cassley, demeter, iphone, ipromote, openfeint, pocket-god, revenue-sharing, social, social-platform, steve-demeter

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iTunes, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Scramble Live lets iPhone users play against Facebook users

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Mar 4th, 2009

Zynga has released a new iPhone game called Scramble Live, and while the game itself isn't anything really new -- it's Boggle, basically -- the technology is pretty interesting. They've already got a Facebook version up and running with over a million users, and the new app will let you play against other users, on both the iPhone and Facebook, in real-time. That's a pretty impressive hook -- rather than building up a new social audience, you can just carry away your Facebook friends and play with them while you're on the iPhone.

Unfortunately, there's a catch (isn't there always?) -- the game's iTunes page says the live game is only available over 3G or Wifi, so us first-gen iPhone users are out of luck for that mode. But there's also a solo mode, as well as a "pass and play" version that you can use to play with people around you.

The game's "on sale" at $2.99 until March 9th, when it'll jump back up to $4.99. If you're a fan of the Facebook version and want to try out some cross-platform gameplay, give it a look.

Tags: app-store, boggle, facebook, game-modes, gaming, iphone, online, pass-and-play, real-time, scramble-live, social, words

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, iMac, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch

iPhone, Apple, iPod in top 10 social brands of the year

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jan 31st, 2009

Put on your buzzword protectors, because here comes a whole hive: Vitrue, a company that "helps organizations leverage consumer-generated content" has released a list of the top 100 "social brands" for 2008, according to their "Social Media Index," which... meh, we give up. Basically, they have a list of the most-talked about brands of last year, and surprise, surprise, the iPhone tops the charts. We're not much for any company that uses the phrase "paradigm shift" completely unironically, so "Vitrue" isn't exactly the end-all authority here, but you have to admit, no gadget, device, or tech brand has been more dissected and discussed and "empowered" (ugh) than Apple's own iPhone.

And speaking of Apple, they're sitting on the list at number three, and the iPod brand reached number 7. The Mac brand comes in at number 16, and AT&T is two steps below T-Mobile and Verizon at number 64. Say what you want about Apple and the day-to-day issues of the iPhone or their ongoing battles with developers, but when it comes to "mindshare" (look, now they've got us doing it!), the Cult of Mac reigns supreme.

[via Joystiq]

Tags: apple, brands, buzzwords, iphone, ipod, paradigm-shift, seriously-paradigm-shift, social, social-brands, vitrue

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Humor, Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

SnOwned tries multiplayer snowball on the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Dec 19th, 2008

I kind of like the idea behind snOwned, a new wintry app on the App Store that claims to be a "multiuser, online snowball fight." I think there is some great multiplayer gaming to be had with the iPhone, and, if enough people are interested, there might be some in snOwned.

You download the app from the App Store (it's 99 cents, which is cheap but maybe not cheap enough for what it is), and then sign your email up along with a username. Once you've activated, you can then "throw snowballs" (which consists of three little fun minigame steps) at anyone else with the app installed on their iPhone or iPod touch around the world. And they can throw them back at you, you can play a short game to defend, stats are kept on the site, and so on. As with most social games, it all depends on who's in the game with you -- if you've got friends along to keep up rivalries with, it could be fun. But just throwing random snowballs at random people around the globe, as I did (my ingame name is "toucansamurai") isn't really worth the dollar's admission.

Still, it's a start -- the game can also track your location when you throw, so you can see where your snowballs are going on the globe, and who's throwing at you. I think there will eventually be a runaway game of this kind, where we're all playing with each other socially on our own phones in different places all over the world (Loot Wars is another game that's interesting in this vein, even if it's not quite there yet). And snOwned is another step closer to that. But as any MMO company will tell you, the only way to make a social game great is to have everyone playing it, and I'm not sure there's enough going on in this one to pull in a lot of really interested players.

Tags: app-store, casual, gaming, iphone, ipod-touch, mmo, multiplayer, multiplayer-gaming, multiuser, online, snowball-fight, snowned, social

Filed under: Audio, iPod Family, Cool tools, iPhone

Found Footage: Stream music from your computer to your iPhone

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Dec 14th, 2007

Simplify Media allows you to stream music from your home computer (or from the iTunes libraries of 30 of your close personal friends) to your iPhone or iPod touch via WiFi. Admittedly this video is pure marketing, but the concept is cool. I installed a copy of the 1.0 alpha build from Installer.app, and gave it a spin--or at least I tried. The program requires that you have a Simplify Media account so I had to step back and grab a desktop client first. Then after painfully installing the software, signing agreements and clicking "I don't have an account yet", I finally got signed up and added my music folders. The whole process took about 20 frustrating minutes but persistence paid off. I then returned to my iPhone, signed in with my new account, and although I was able to get correct listings of my music library, none of the songs actually played back--causing "Server is not responding" errors instead.

This is one of the caveat lector instances: Boy, does this tool sound like it's going to be great but at the same time it doesn't really work as well as you might hope, at least it doesn't for me right now (some commenters have had better luck, see below). Simplify Media for iPhone is an alpha release and presumably will be finalized sometime after the official iPhone SDK ships.

Tags: Music, Simplify Media, SimplifyMedia, Social, Streaming

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Productivity, Internet Tools, Blogs

MoodSwing 4 multi-status Quicksilver script has come a long way, baby

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Aug 17th, 2007

If it seems like it was only last week that Brett Terpstra introduced his side project MoodSwing, a clever script that allows users to change their status message across multiple apps with Quicksilver - well, it was. People loved it, so Brett quickly began updating, tweaking and adding a slew of new features and services that MoodSwing could manipulate. The script is now up to v4 with a dedicated page at Brett's Circle Six Design blog, listing out all the features and supported services:
  • Supports Adium, iChat and Skype
  • Supports Twitter, Jaiku and Facebook
  • Automatic Qurling of long URLs
  • Word Count
  • Send current weather (international)
  • Send current iTunes track
  • Encryption of passwords stored in preferences
  • Easy-to-edit defaults, can be overridden by command syntax
In a surprisingly short time, MoodSwing has become an incredibly powerful Quicksilver action that can simplify the process of letting your friends across many services know what you're up to. The action is pretty easy to set up and configure to your bidding, but be sure to check out the MoodSwing page for instructions to get the ball rolling. As with so many of Brett's other excellent offerings, MoodSwing is provided as donationware, so scroll down on Brett's Downloads page and show him some appreciation.

Tags: Adium, Brett Terpstra, BrettTerpstra, Facebook, iChat, iTunes, Jaiku, MoodSwing, Qurl, Skype, social

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Internet, The Woz

Chat with Woz

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Nov 17th, 2006

Join Steve Wozniak online on Tuesday, 21 November at 2PM EST for a live chat hosted by the Washington Post. He will answer questions and discuss his recent memoir, iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon. If you can't make the live chat, you can submit questions and comments in advance via the Washington Post announcement page.

Tags: calendar, Chat, Social, Woz

Filed under: Internet Tools, Widget Watch

Widget Watch: Ma.gnolia Ma.rker

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Sep 29th, 2006

Who says del.icio.us should have all the fun in the social bookmarking arena? Ma.gnolia is one of many competitors which takes a decidedly more human approach to the social aspect of online bookmarking, offering discussion forums, themed groups, user spotlights and more. While we've blogged plenty of ways to leverage del.icio.us, it's nice to see more more tools for other services like this widget for Ma.gnolia.

The Ma.gnolia Ma.rker allows you to easily post links, customizing all the standard elements like descriptions and tags, along with rating the link before you send it off. The one catch the author didn't specify is which browsers this widget can work with; I don't personally have a Ma.gnolia account so I can't test it, but if any of you readers take it for a spin, let us know if it works with anything other than Safari.

Tags: bookmarking, del.icio.us, ma.gnolia, magnolia, social, widget, widgets

Filed under: Internet Tools, Widget Watch

Widget Watch: add this - a social bookmarking widget

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Aug 17th, 2006

The add this widget is a lightweight and customizable tool that will help you bookmark every TUAW post websites to some of your favorite social bookmarking and news sites (I think it might also be the smallest widget ever, too). Upon installing, you need to chose a background color and one of three social services (with more on the way): del.icio.us, digg or Shadows. It currently only works with Safari (with more browsers also on the way), but it unfortunately doesn't pass any selected text to the bookmark submission (like many of the available bookmarklets), so I hope that's on the todo list as well.

For now, add this shows a lot of promise, and it's probably one of the handiest and out-of-your-way tools for getting your social groove on. Grab it over at DashboardWidgets.

Tags: add this, AddThis, bookmarking, dashboard, mac, news, os x, OsX, social, tiger, widgets

Filed under: Internet Tools

Apple Matters launches Macitt, Apple-focused social news site

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Aug 7th, 2006


I knew something was up when I noticed my Apple Matters feed turn brown in NetNewsWire (that color means the feed hasn't been updated in over 60 days), and sho 'nuff, I was right. Today Apple Matters launched Macitt, an Apple-centric social news site (or: 'digg clone', if you wanna go that route). Logins for Apple Matters will also work for Macitt, and all the typical social news features seem to be present. A tabbed panel with a list of categories adorns the top right of the page, while accompanying tabs list top users, a tag cloud and a submit section. Yea, that's right: a big advantage Macitt has over digg's system is tagging, which other social news sites seem to be adopting more and more often.

Ultimately, it looks like a strong offering that will probably be well-accepted as long as the word gets around, but I'm starting to worry about an overabundance of social news services. After all, a guy can only take so much socializing before he starts mis-tagging headlines and forgets to vote.

Tags: apple matters, AppleMatters, digg, macitt, network, news, social, vote

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