The link to view the LHC (which thankfully didn’t kill us yesterday) is now online and has been floating around various places, but if you haven’t seen it, check out the webcams over here and keep up to date with the biggest Particle Accelerator the world has ever seen. You might even be lucky enough to catch some particles whizzing around.
If you have just bought an iPod, then you are in for a bit of bad news as Apple have announced updates to their ubiquitous iPod line of MP3 players, mainly regarding the iPod Nano and iPod Touch. As we warned before, it was highly expected that Apple would use the event today to announce new products, and it seems many of the rumours around the new iPod Nano turned out to be true.
I managed to keep up with the event via Gizmodo’s liveblog, which provided photos and text updates through the hour. So what did Apple show us today?
iTunes 8
iTunes has been hanging on to version 7 for a while now, and one of the biggest rumours leading up to today was a new version of iTunes being released, version 8. What’s new? Apart from a new visualizer (can I have it as a screen saver, Apple?), a new feature called Genius is meant to help you find music that “go great together”. For people with huge libraries, this could be a lot of help of getting some stuff organized for once. As for me, I am someone who doesn’t use playlists that much, or in fact at all, so I can’t really see this making much of a difference to me in any way. Also updated is a new view which presents your album covers like iPhoto or iMovie skimming, where you swipe the mouse over the Artist or Genre to see album covers inside. There is something about this view which for now makes it feel as though it doesn’t really fit in iTunes, but it may just need some getting used to.
iPod Nano
As Kevin Rose had predicted (or received in a leak) the iPod Nano has reverted from its old, fatter design back to the taller one we knew before, coming in a variety of colours, and with a new, curved design (much like what is going on with the back of the iPhone, or the tapering of the MacBook Air). Also, we have seen new features such as an accelerometer so that when you turn the Nano, it will also turn what is on screen, useful for Cover Flow mode and more importantly watching videos and movies, as the screen is now taller. Also included is an update to the iPod OS with Genius, the feature seen in iTunes which recommends music to you, rather like a Pandora or Last.fm of your iTunes Library. Another feature, although maybe viewed as more of a gimmick by many, is the ability to shake the device, which uses the accelerometer to turn shuffle mode on. In my eyes, that isn’t really a selling point, but I am sure in some way to some people that will be handy.
Another change comes in the capacity of the Nano: You can now get 8GB and 16GB versions of the device, coming in at £109 and £149 respectively. This is a welcome addition to the line of iPods.
iPod Touch
The smaller brother of the iPhone, the iPod Touch has also received some updates, although not as massive as seen on the Nano. The second generation of the device is now even smaller and lighter than it’s predecessor, and includes a speaker, hardware volume control buttons (much wanted by existing Touch owners) and intergration of Genius from iTunes into software 2.1. Also included into the new Touch is Nike + iPod support, a technology which helps you with your workouts, which helps you track your progress during exercise. Oh, and the prices have been dropped slightly on the Touch, now coming in 8, 16 and 32 GB sizes at £169, £219, and £289.
What else?
Well, Apple decided that the iPod classic needed some love and upgraded the 80GB model to 120GB, but in doing so also dropped the 160GB model. Not too sure what to make of that move. And to (presumably) avoid a mass server flood, the iPhone 2.1 software, which has been described as having a multitude of fixes for bugs in iPhone OS X, and helping battery life, poor call quality, crashes and other random annoyances that have plauged the iPhone 2.0 OS since it’s release.
Qik, the Ustream/Stickam/Justin.tv/etc for mobile, is expanding to more handsets, to go along their already supported handsets such as Nokia’s popular N95 and the iPhone (although it does you require you jailbreak, due to Apple’s limitations). Most of the updates are to Taiwanese company HTCs most recent products. New Qik software will be coming to the following phones:
Qik brings the idea of lifecasting straight your 3G or WiFi enabled phone, making it easier for anyone to share their life on the go. As I tested in a 3G area on my phone, Qik works amazingly well if you have good signal, and even on 2 bars of 3G I got a good upload speed. Just don’t if for lengthy periods on a limited data plan, or you might run up some lengthy charges…
Those with arachnophobia will certainly have been attempting to get away fast this morning from Liverpool’s Lime Street station as a 50 foot spider clung to an old city block in the city. The spiders, built by French company La Machine, weighs 37 tonnes and apparently has 50 axes of movement, which are controlled by 12 people who operate the device whilst on it. But why?
Apparently this whole debacle is part of a five-day “piece of street theatre” to celebrate the city as Capital of Culture. The spider will go to other places of the town to undoubtedly confuse and scare a lot more people over the next couple of days, and is believed to “wake up” on Friday. However, the spider certainly is a great idea to attract some tourists (except summer has just gone, why not a bit earlier?).
Built in Nantes, the spider is made from poplar wood and steel (wood, for a natural feel maybe?) and was built in a secret location to stop sneaky eyes seeing what was going on.
Make this so it can be controlled by one person, and I want one.
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.
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.
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.
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