Google have shown off another part of the Android OS, by revealing the Android Market, their answer to the iPhone App Store. The Android Market will be free for anyone to add apps to, as it requires no approval process to have your stuff put up in the listings (although how would you control so many apps without some kind of monitoring?). This has a big advantage over the Apple App Store, which currently requires apps to be approved before they have a chance of making the store itself. Other than that, the Market is very similar to the iPhone App Store in the sense that it is one place where all the Apps are, as well as providing easy updating.
The only thing I can really see as a problem here is that Android is a free, open OS that will be available to all phone companies to use. The inherent problem with this is that there will be many different types of phones, some with big screens, some with small screens, some with certain features (maybe GPS etc), some without. How will developers make their apps so that they work across this vast selection of phones? This works on the iPhone and iPod Touch, as they have the same screen size, and mostly the same features. Obviously, the iPod Touch lacks GPS and a cell connection, but Location Services still work on the Touch if you are connected to a mapped Wi-Fi hotspot.The main issue here is how developers will Develop apps so that they work across the wide selection of Android we can expect.
Still, the “Market” is a great idea to make Android phones even more easy to use and desirable as a phone OS. It will certainly be a change from scouring the web for Apps you want like you still do with Nokia phone or BlackBerry devices. It’s good to see that the Android OS doesn’t look too shabby either, and whilst many would argue that the design doesn’t matter, in all honesty it does. People want something that looks great these days (which in some cases is the sole reason why people buy phones, especially the iPhone).
Let’s just hope that Android will be released without all the problems that the iPhone has (and still is) plagued with.
Read more about the Android OS over at the Official Blog.
Tesco have started offering a Blu-Ray PC in-store for only £599, making Blu-Ray playback on a computer affordable out of the box. The PC, which is a Medion Akoyo P36888 has a quad core Intel processor, as well as coming with 3 GB of RAM and a huge 1 TB hard drive, quite large for a PC at this price.
Other features include an NVidia GeForce graphics card along with 8-channel surround sound, a convenient dual TV tuner and an 8-in-1 card reader. At £599, there HAS to be a catch. This PC must be using the cheapest components to be available at this price.
I’m no fan of Tesco, mostly because of their ever increasing dominance in the UK market as their stock grows and competitors struggle against it. For me, this computer seems too cheap. The TV Tuner for example, could just be a dual analouge tuner, which wouldn’t be suitable for DVB-T digital TV that is fast becoming the standard in the UK for Freeview TV. Also, what about playback software? I am sure WinDVD or PowerDVD now has Blu support, but is that software free with the computer, or is is trial software (as it usually comes, installed as crapware).
I remain dubious of this PC for now, but I can’t really say anything until someone takes the plunge and tests one out.
The world is full of religious people. And the trouble with games such as Guitar Hero, is a lot of the songs are about hell or death or something along those lines that probably don’t bode well with religion. Well, if you are a Christian, then maybe Digital Praise could be the answer (via GameDaily).
They have developed a Guitar Hero clone, including a controller much the same as the real Guitar Hero one, as well as a full game. The real deal comes in with the 52 God-friendly songs from well-known (or maybe not) artists such “Flyleaf, Petra, Whitecross, Newsboys, Skillet and others.”. Yes my friends, this is Guitar Praise: Solid Rock.
If there is anyone out there who listens to the latest Christian Rock our there, then this is a must have game for this year.
OK, this might not sound exciting for some people, but I am sure for those families steering clear of the nasty ol’ songs in Guitar Hero, Guitar Praise with it’s family-friendly content might be something to consider. It’s not going cheap though, costing $100 for the single guitar pack, with an additional guitar setting you back a further $70. You’ve got some time to save up though before it’s September 25th release, when it will be available for Mac and PC.
I think I will just stick with my normal Guitar Hero for now.
The iPhone has proved a successful platform for gaming, but the lack of tactile feedback and buttons for play have meant that developers have really need to find more ways to use the accelerometer in game play. However, one developer has gone out of their way to bring us the iControlPad, an add-on for the iPhone which gives the device a feel more reminiscent of the PSP.
The picture at the top of this post shows how the iControlPad should look when it is finished, although the second one shows a prototype that has been made (which seems to be fully working, at least according to the site)
I am not sure how this goes down with Apple at all, as developers do not have access to the dock connector (although jailbreak applications can obviously get around this, as they are not bound by the SDK’s limits). It does appear this solution works with iPhone Quake (which is available if you jailbreak your phone), so that is a good thing.
It looks like they are trying to get this thing out on the market for under $30, but if we are required to jailbreak, and we will most probably have a limited selection of games, I don’t see where the market is for this.
Interestingly, TouchArcade said that it looks like this isn’t the only iPhone gaming cradle solution in the works, so this might not be our only choice.
Banding around the internet is a revival of the long standing rumour that Apple will be releasing a subscription based music service for its iTunes Store. The specific iteration rumoured this time would be called ‘iTunes Unlimited’, this comes from several Apple rumour sites, including TUAW, who were tipped by anonymous email recently.
The insider suggests that for $129.99 (or $99 with a current MobileMe subscription) customers would ”buy unlimited music access for one year”, allowing you to play it on your computer or iPod/iPhone. But, does this allow you to keep the music you’ve purchased with the subscription service (bearing in mind you’ve already put it in your iPod)? Apparently not, but this isn’t too clear. Apparently the option to “buy and keep” would “replace the subscription version of a song with a downloaded version” and both the subscription and full download version of the song would be encoded with at least 256 Kbps- this starts to sound slightly like iTunes movie rentals. So, surely, if Apple did it with movies… they’d do it with music, right? Probably wrong.
Whenever I see rumours like this, I instantly remember the infamous video of the MacWorld 2003 launch of the iTunes Store. Steve Jobs absolutely slated subscription music services saying
“These services treat you like a thief….. we think subscriptions are the wrong path…. people have bought their music for as long as we can remember…. people want to buy their music on the internet by buying downloads just like they bought LPs, just like they bought cassettes and just like they bought CDs.”
And indeed, almost every profitable online music service today favours a buy and keep system rather than a subscription system. However, times have changed, especially in the world of online music. Despite it only being released 5 years ago, the iTunes Store has catapulted from its inception to worldwide dominance. The question is: has Steve Jobs changed?
Following up to the epic success of the Guitar Hero series, the Nintendo DS based Guitar Hero: On Tour is meant to let you take the experience on the go so you never have to stop rocking. Except to be honest, that plug in guitar fret thing looks kinda awakard, don’t-ya-think? Granted, I have never tried it, but I just get the feeling that after 5 minutes of use, it would make your hands a bit achy all over.
Completely defying the purpose of the game (to go anywhere), some dude called Erick Ruckman has hacked apart his PlayStation 2 Guitar Hero controller, and custom fitted his DS so that he can play with the same old experience that he has always been used to. While you still strum with the DS’s touch screen, the awkward buttons are replaced by the controller so you can have a nicer feel. He even fitted one of those FM transmitters you can pick up to the audio out so it doesn’t sound as weedy.
Oh yes. Some Lego junkies from Hong Kong have gone crazy with over 300,000 bricks and created the Olympic Village - in Lego! The display includes a massive 4,500 minifigures scattered around the display, bring a sense of life to everything. Perhaps the most amazing thing they have built is the Birds Nest Stadium itself, complete with the crazy metalwork on the outside. Inside the stadium there is a football field and is also full with people in the crowds.
Other amazing builds are the famous Water Cube which looks just as good inside as it does from out. They even went ahead and created the smaller places, such as ping pong tables, volleyball court, tennis court, and even roads for the mini cyclists!
I’ve added a gallery bellow of the images that came from the Daily Mail. Unsurprisingly, there is one comment that you would expect:
What about the Lego troops throwing people out of their homes or Lego troops arresting and deporting anyone who mentions Tibet?
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