Road Blaster drives recklessly to iOS, available now for a buck

Revolutionary Concepts' cleaned-up iPhone/iPad port of the FMV car game Road Blaster may not have hit its original September 2010 release date, but that hardly matters now, because it's available now. Similar to Cobra Command, this is an updated version of a Data East arcade game, featuring vehicular mayhem rendered in traditional 2D animation.

If you'd like to take this insane, animated destructive driving adventure with you anywhere, you can do so right now for just 99 cents. After the "launch period," it's going back up to $2.99, so you should road blast over to the App Store if you're interested. Or drift past the break for some footage.

Source: Road Blaster (iTunes)
Via:Joystiq

iPhone headset socket hijacked to power DIY peripherals (video)

Hijacking Power and Bandwidth from the Mobile Phone's Audio Interface - Integrated Prototype from Thomas Schmid on Vimeo.

Apple's proprietary dock connector may keep would-be peripheral manufacturers at bay, but if you want to build your own iOS companion devices, there's another way. You might have noticed that the Square credit card reader uses Apple's 3.5mm headset jack to transmit power and data at once, and gadgeteers at the University of Michigan are busy open-sourcing the same technique for all the DIY contraptions you can dream of. Project HiJack has already figured out how to pull 7.4 milliwatts out of a 22kHz audio tone, and built a series of prototype boards (including working EKG, temperature, humidity and motion sensors) that transmit data to and from an iOS app at up to 8.82 kbaud -- using just $2.34 worth of electronic components. See the basic principles at work in the video above, and -- as soon as the team updates Google Code -- find out how to build your own at the links below.

Ars Technica

Project HiJack

iOS art game iCarus out now, free for one week

Hey, do you feel like getting super bummed out? Don't feel weird about it -- we all get in those moods, sometimes. Usually we just curl up on the couch with our coffee-flavored ice cream and pop in A Walk to Remember, but if you're looking for something a little more non-dairy, you may want to check out indie developer Sir Realism's new iOS title, iCarus. (Not to be confused with iCarly, though we doubt anyone reading this particular blog would make that mistake.)

The game could safely be labeled as "artsy," featuring absolutely zero text and a highly interpretable storyline about a father grieving the death of his son. If that sounds up your alley, you can download iCarus from the App Store for free -- but only until January 19. Check out a trailer after the jump if you need more convincing!

• Via: GameSetWatch
• Source: iTunes

Crytek seeking iOS developers, tries not to mention it's for games

Crytek, a developer that's built a reputation for creating game engines that make even the highest-end PC gaming rigs weep, is making a move into ... mobile development? In a job posting on Develop, the company has put the word out that it's looking for people with experience making iOS apps, specifically candidates who've shipped at least one product on the App Store.

You've probably noticed that we haven't mentioned games yet, and there's a reason: In its posting, Crytek is pretty careful not to use any language that would suggest that successful applicants will go on to create games for iPhone, IPad or iPod touch. Well, except for one line near the end of the "requirements" section: "Passion for video games."

The fact that we haven't heard any rumblings regarding iOS games from Crytek before, and that it's just now sounding the call for applications, leads us to believe that any mobile projects the company has -- games or otherwise -- must be pretty early in development. That, or it's just really taking its time coming up with the absolute best way to bring your iPhone's PowerVR GPU to its knees.
Via:Joystiq
Source: Develop

Goo'd deal: Word of Goo for iPad is now half-price

World of Goo, 2D Boy's sticky-stretchy indie puzzle platformer, has been available on iPad for a month, and to celebrate the occasion the game is now $4.99 for a limited time. At half off, it's an absolute steal for an outstanding game we included in our 2010 iOS buyer's guide.
Source: 2D Boy, World of Goo [App Store]

Apple’s Next iOS Improves Interface, Adds New Gestures

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Apple this week released a beta version of its next mobile operating system, iOS 4.3, for app developers. We got an early look at the OS, which has not been released to the public yet.

Among a pile of minor interface modifications, there are a few major new features under the hood.

Some new multitouch-gesture controls on the iPad are the biggest goodie. In the developer release we saw, at least, the feature is hidden until you use a Mac app to enable it. This new feature is awesome, and it's definitely something to look forward to when iOS 4.3 officially ships. (Apple has not disclosed a release date, but we're guessing soon).

The rest of the changes we found were interface-related — modifications to the iPad keyboard and the iOS multitasking tray, a new notebook font and more.

Here's a rundown of what's new in iOS 4.3 beta.

<< Previous | Next >>

How to Get Tomorrow's iOS Features Today

 

Apple's iOS updates are seeded to developers, often in beta form, before they're released to the general public. This may seem like an impenetrable barrier for some, but very little is preventing you from upgrading early. Here's how to do it.

Acquiring an iOS Beta

The Proper Method: Be a "Developer"

 

Whether you're actually a developer or not, Apple allows you to pay to be a registered developer for $99. You don't have to make (or even think about making) a single iOS application. All you're required to do is pay the $99 entrance fee. This gets you access to iOS betas for a year and you can download install them as you please.

$99 isn't exactly a great deal to have future access to iOS betas unless you're an iOS fanatic. If you'd still like official access to the beta, however, what we'd recommend doing is rounding up a few friends who would also like early access and splitting the fee. If you can find four other people, that's just $20 each. Because Apple lets you add up to 100 device UDID (the unique device identifier on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch) you can easily share a developer membership with others to save some money. With a large number of people, you can get your updates for just a few dollars per year.

If you want to register as a developer, you can do that at the Apple Developer Connection.

The Improper Method: Circumvent the System

 

It's not hard to locate iOS betas online by simple searching Google for a torrent file. That said, even though you'll be getting the iOS update for free later on in the month, Apple doesn't permit the free downloading of iOS betas. By downloading iOS without Apple's consent, well, you know you're breaking the rules.

If you're not a registered developer and you've somehow obtained a copy of an iOS beta, you may still have some issues. Apple requires that device UDIDs are registered on a developer account to activate the iOS beta. This means that if you install an iOS beta without registering your UDID you may end up with an unusable device. This can be especially problematic because once you upgrade, there's no going back. Well, technically there is but it takes some effort. If you decide to take the risk, be sure you DO NOT restore your iOS device using the beta image. That will pretty much ensure that your iOS device will be locked down. Instead, use the upgrade method (detailed below). If it succeeds, however, it's unlikely the device will need to register with Apple. If it doesn't succeed, don't restore using the update but try to restore using the last available stable release of iOS (as in not a beta, and probably what was on your device beforehand). Again, if you try to restore your device with an iOS beta it will refuse to boot until it is registered with an Apple developer account. You have to use the "Check for Upgrade" route instead.

But what if I screw up?

As mentioned above, paying for a developer account with friends is an easy way to save money on getting these early upgrades. But what if nobody likes you (or just doesn't want to pay money for betas like you do)? A quick search will generally turn up a few ambitious individuals who have paid for developer accounts and are looking to make some money. Generally for around $5, they will add your UDID to their developer account so you can easily update without worry. If you happen to screw up the update and lock down your device or just want piece of mind, this is a good alternative to paying the $99 required by Apple. Of course, this is still breaking the rules.

Installing an iOS Beta

 

Installing an iOS beta is very easy. Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes (if it doesn't open automatically). Choose your device from the iTunes sidebar and you'll see a section called Version. There are two options in that section: Check for Update and Restore.

Important!
iOS updates are specific to their devices. If you have an iPod touch and an iPad, you'll need separate IPSW files for each of them. If you try to upgrade an iPad using an IPSW for an iPod touch, for example, itwill not work.

Restoring will wipe everything off of your iOS device, so you want to avoid that whenever possible. Instead, hold down the option key if you're on a Mac or shift if you're on a Windows PC and click the Check for Updatebutton. You will be prompted to choose an IPSW (iPhone Software) file. Choose the beta you downloaded for your device and click Choose. From there, iTunes will take over and upload the IPSW to your device. The upgrade will start, and if it works you will have the beta up and running in no time*.

* This is not true at all—iTunes takes forever to update. You should go make yourself a sandwich while you wait.

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You can contact Adam Dachis, the author of this post, at adachis@lifehacker.com. You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook. 

Twisted Pixel CEO: We won't pursue legal action over Capcom's MaXplosion

Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford says his comparatively tiny team won't be suing mega-publisher Capcom for its blatant attempt to rip off the studio's Splosion Man with iOS clone MaXplosion (pictured). "We're definitely not going to pursue legal action," Wilford told Joystiq. "While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating, we're too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide."

"We just need to keep our heads down making the next thing so that Capcom has something to steal next year," he chided, while adding that he hopes Capcom is "not counting on the fact that indies can't fight back." "We'll just have to make our own mobile game," he challenged. "We'll let you know when we have something on the mobile front to talk about, but now we have added incentive!"

Wilford also tweeted that the "best part" is that Twisted Pixel had originally pitched Splosion Man to Capcom, but the publisher passed on it. Speaking of Twitter, he said "the amount of support we've seen in the last 12 hours on Twitter and over email has been awesome, and I think that's better than [winning] a stupid lawsuit or anything like that."

A Capcom Mobile representative told us that a statement from the company on the matter would hopefully be released later today. Wildford's full response is posted after the break.

Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford:

"We're definitely not going to pursue legal action. While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating, we're too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide. I just hope they're not counting on the fact that indies can't fight back.

"In general, anything that would take our focus off of making games would be a bad decision, I think. We just need to keep our heads down making the next thing so that Capcom has something to steal next year. But I have to say, the amount of support we've seen in the last 12 hours on Twitter and over email has been awesome, and I think that's better than wining [sic] a stupid lawsuit or anything like that.

"We'll just have to make our own mobile game and I'm hopeful that Capcom will see that robbing our shit wasn't worth it in the long run. We'll let you know when we have something on the mobile front to talk about, but now we have added incentive!"

Verizon iPhone has devs, analysts excited by increased audience

As expected, Verizon announced today that it would become the second US company to carry Apple's iPhone on its service, finally offering an alternative to AT&T, which up until now has had an iron grip on the popular device. Game developers are thrilled at the prospect of a whole new audience for a platform so friendly to mobile games, with some analysts and devs predicting mobile gaming revenue could double as soon as the end of this year.

Of course, devs are aware that there could be some issues, both with bringing scads of new customers onto the platform as well as transferring some customers from AT&T over to Verizon. But on the whole, they're giddy with optimism -- analysts are saying that as many as 13 million new iPhones could be sold on the Verizon service, and each one of those is a potential new customer for iOS developers.

Wesley Snipes bringing 'Julius Styles' to iOS this June

Let's role play for a second. You're Wesley Snipes, renowned action star, currently serving a sentence for tax evasion. You decide to create a new video game based on your action hero creation, Julius Styles (no relation), an amalgam of your lead characters in Murder at 1600, Passenger 57 and Art of War. This game will be accompanied by a movie following your release in 2013.

The game, entitled Julius Styles: The International, will feature a blend of action and puzzles and will debut on iOS this June, with XBLA, PSN and Android versions to follow. But who will develop this game? Who will tame this wild meerkat of an idea? And then it hits you. Lapland Studio, creators of WiiWare sensation Lead the Meerkats. Yes. It's all falling into place.

Fix TV Show Sorting Issues on iOS Devices

If you’ve populated your iOS device with televisions shows from sources outside of iTunes you may have noticed that many shows get sorted incorrectly. Fix the sort issue by amending the show’s metadata.

At GigaOM they noticed a peculiar problem with sorting on iOS devices. The shows could be perfectly labeled in iTunes but when on the device they sorted oddly. Some show listings, for example, would have multiple different shows scattered about inside. The solution they discovered involves editing the “Info” tab for the show in iTunes:

The solution is to go to the “Info” tab where the “Name” of the episode is found, and under “Artist” enter the show’s name. It makes no sense, but it works. As can be seen above, the episode number is also entered under “Track Number.” Previously, shows that were correctly grouped might have episodes listed alphabetically unless ordered with the Track Number. Apparently, that was fixed in iOS 4. Hopefully, the this bug will soon be fixed, too, but until then this workaround solves the problem of missorted television shows.

How to Fix TV Show Sorting on iOS Devices [GigaOM]

Apple Pulls VLC from the iOS App Store

We were pretty excited when multi-format video player VLC dropped for iOS, but it looks like the sun has already set on that glorious endeavor. Just as we'd heard it might, VLC has been removed from the App Store—though not at Apple's request. Rémi Denis-Courmont, a lead contributor to the project, decided that the the DRM in the App Store violated the GNU public license, requesting that Apple remove it. We're not sure we buy this interpretation of the GPL, and it doesn't quite make sense that it takes what was a completely free and easily available app away from millions of users. Worse, it doesn't set the best precedent for other open source projects, especially with the Mac App Store having similar DRM features. We hope you all grabbed your copy while you had a chance. [via TUAW]

Send an email to Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com.