MacWorld 2010: Web Development Symposium

While attending MacWorld Expo 2010, I went to Nick Floro’s session – Market Symposium SA: Web Development: Tools, Trends and Technology. It was a great session on various Web 2.0 technologies. Topics covered were: Web 2.0, Designing Interfaces, Social Media, Video on the web, Simulations & Games, Project Management, Prototyping Techniques and other Tips and Tricks. Below are more information about the session as well as the slideshow.

Attend this day symposium and learn about the latest trends, solutions and what customers want today in web development. You will gain valuable knowledge on how to manage projects, developing new ideas, the latest hardware and software tools and what’s new in delivery for the web. Whether you’ll be creating marketing, education, presentations, e-learning, e- mail campaigns, asset and content management applications you won’t want to miss this session! Whether you are new to web development, a graphic artist wanting to learn more, a marketing manager, production coordinator or an instructor, this is the symposium to see the latest in web technology.

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MacWorld Expo 2010 Overview

MacWorld Expo 2010 was quite a fun and educational experience. Even without Apple being at the show, the Mac community is still very strong. What I really loved this year was being able to meet the actual iPhone app developers at the App Pavilion and seeing the projects that they’re working on. There were also a lot of learning opportunities at the conference as well. Below are some of my conference highlights:
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Freebie Friday! (For 3/5/2010)

Alrighty, it’s Freebie Friday, and for the first one, I’d like to give you a few links to my favorite free iPhone apps and music downloads for this week. Also, I’m thinking about starting an iPhone Apps mailing list. Would you be interested in joining it if I do? The content will be somewhat similar to this post! Enjoy all the freebies and happy un-birthday! I threw in some Alice in Wonderland apps since Tim Burton’s movie is out today!

Coolibah is a very fun digital scrapbooking app! It was $12.99, but is now free! (with some limitations). There’s are a lot of beautiful scrapbook kits to choose from, made by professional designers. I personally love this app, especially when I’m on vacation. I can instantly create scrapbook pages and share them with my friends on social networks. My Review | iTunes

Wordcrasher Lite – play 4 levels for free! Make words out of the falling letters in the game. I like how the game pieces are like candies in a box. There’s great use of physics in this game. Full version is only 99 cents and well worth it. The developer has already started working on an iPad version with very beautiful graphics. My Review | iTunes

Angry Birds Lite – It’s a nice casual game where these angry birds get back at the pigs who stole their eggs. Catapult the birds and knock over all the pigs to advance to the next level. It’s a very simple concept, and very addicting as well. Lite version has 6 levels, and the full version has a ton of levels and is well worth the 99 cents!
My Review | iTunes | Full .99 cents

2Do Lite: A Stunning To Do List is an amazingly lovely task/to do list app. The user interface is simply beautiful. The lite version has a lot of capabilities. The full version is a bit expensive, but comes with more themes, calendars, colors, and backup.
iTunes

Alien Glyphs – A great puzzle-arcade game that tests how well your hand and eye coordination are. Match fast moving hieroglyphs to your given puzzle pieces. Great training for your eyes and shape recognition. (Free for limited time)
iTunes

Scoops – In honor of their release of a new game called Dizzypad, Scoops is free! Who doesn’t want to catch ice cream scoops in their cone? Catch as many as you can, but watch out for onions. You don’t want that on your ice cream! Also many other themes you can purchase in-app. Free for a limited time! iTunes

Touch Pets Dogs Go – is the best virtual pet app out there. Create, train, and feed your puppy! If you’ve played it before, this version will give you give you free puppy bucks, free 10 bowls of food, and also a White Rabbit Watch from the Alice in Wonderland collection!
My Review | iTunes

Alice in Wonderland Storybook — Enjoy the story of Alice in Wonderland in full color! The font is a bit small, but I love the classic illustrations in the app. The app is normally 99 cents, but is free until March 8, 2010.
iTunes

Alice Free Fall Lite – fall down, down the rabbit hole and catch some roses and powerups. But be aware of the falling cards and other obstacles! Try out the lite version for free. The full version is $2.99.
iTunes | Full $2.99

Alice in Wonderland – An Adventure Beyond The Mirror – is absolutely a fun adventure game, especially if you’re a big Alice! Journey with Alice and meet all your favorite characters from the story! Each one has their own special power that can help you finish the level. I’d recommend trying the lite version first before buying the full version for $4.99.
iTunes | iTunes ($4.99)

Alice in Wonderland Theme Song

Get the theme song from Alice in Wonderland by Danny Elfman for free! Available on Amazon, but US only.

Kina Grannis – Valentine — Kina’s Stairwells album released this week has already hit the billboard charts! She’s also making her hit single, Valentine, available for download on her website for free! Download now.

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iPhone App Review: TumbleDrop

Written By: Starfruit Games
Category: Games
Price: $1.99 | Free:

Size: 14.2 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0.3
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

TumbleDrop is a sweet and adorable physics-based puzzle game that have you smiling when you start playing! The gameplay is easy, simply tap on the yellow shapes to make the pink star fall safely on the ground. Be careful though, one wrong move and your star can tumble down into the water.

The animation and graphics in this game are simply beautiful. Although the graphics seems simple, the attention to detail is what makes this game so great. Notice the facial expressions of all the shapes, especially the pink star. The music in the game reminds me a soothing children’s lullaby. Another small detail that makes the game very pleasant to play.

For every level you beat, you unlock another level in that set. There are currently 3 sets in the full version — beginner, medium, and hard. There are also 20 puzzles in each set, totaling 60 puzzles altogether. The developer promised to add more puzzles future updates for free.

The simple game concept, gentle music, and adorable graphics makes the gameplay very calm and relaxing. There are no ticking clocks, so take your time to solve the various puzzles. Once you finish all of the puzzles, you can go back and challenge yourself by only removing 2 or 3 shapes to earn a gold star medals. You can also earn pink heart medals by removing lots of shapes.

In the full version, there is also a Quick Play mode. The objective is to complete as many random levels as you can without failing (having the pink star fall in the water). If you do fail, the score starts over and you continue with another random puzzle.

A lite version of TumbleDrop is also available in the iTunes app store for free. 10 puzzles of various stages are available for you to try out in this version. Upgrade to the full version for 60+ puzzles and a quick play survival mode.

You can purchase TumbleDrop in the iTunes app store for $1.99, or try out the lite version for free. For more information on TumbleDrop, see their official website.

This article was originally published in Beatweek Magazine.

Game Trailer

Dr. Seuss iPhone Apps now 99 cents!

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and NEA’s Read Across America Day, Oceanhouse Media is dropping all Dr. Seuss iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad apps to $0.99! Grab your favorite Dr. Seuss classic ebooks or camera apps. But hurry, this offer will last for one day only — today — Tuesday, March 2, 2010!

Dr. Seuss’s ABC (iTunes)

Have your child learn the ABC’s with this favorite classic book. It’s full of beautiful and colorful pages as well as fun animations.

The Cat In The Hat (iTunes)

Get the classic “That Cat in the Hat” ebook. Enjoy the beautiful artwork and animation as the book reads to you right on your iPhone / iPod Touch. It’s perfect for the little ones.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (iTunes)

Of all the Dr. Seuss apps available now, this is definitely my favorite! I just absolutely love the story and it can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. The narrator is wonderful and the animation and illustration is just lovely. I highly recommend it. Full Review..

Grinchmas! (iTunes)

Would you like to be Mr. Nice Grinch, or Mr. Mean Grinch? Here’s a fun game to either toss presents at the Who’s houses or snowballs at them instead! Full Review..

Dr. Suess’ Camera: The Cat in The Hat Edition (iTunes)

Take photos of your friends and disguise them as the mischievous cat in the hat! A fun app to make you smile with your favorite Cat in the Hat illustrations!

Dr. Seuss Camera: The Grinch Edition (iTunes)

Take photos and insert your favorite Grinch frames on your friends! You can be Mr. Nice Grinch, or a Mean one, or even one of the Who’s. Full Review..

Read more about Oceanhouse Media’s Dr. Seuss iPhone / iPod Touch apps!

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iPhone App Review: Riddim Ribbon

Name: Riddim Ribbon
Written By: Tapulous
Category: Games
Price: $1.99 (iTunes)

Size: 45.4 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0.3
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

From the makers of Tap Tap Revenge comes the hit new iPhone/iPod Touch game, Riddim Ribbon! it’s like Tap Tap Revenge and your favorite race car game all rolled into one! Riddim Ribbon is a fast and upbeat game that any music lover would enjoy.

So let’s get this party started! You’re the DJ and the controls for the music mix are right in your hands! Tilt your device left, right, and up to the tunes of Black Eyed Peas, Tiësto, Benny Benassi, (and many more artists to be added soon) as you race down a curvy ribbon, gathering pebbles and hoops for points. When you reach a fork in your track, make a decision to go left or right for a different mix of the song. Jump over ramps to the effects level and give your song a more unique sound. Glide along the track, but be sure to stay away from obstacles that can slow you down!

Don’t be too intimidated playing this game the first few times. The game is easy to learn, but difficult to master at first. Once you get the hang of when to tilt the device during the curvy turns and jumps, it’s a lot of fun. Plus, the narrator is quite encouraging!

Each game is about 4-5 minutes, depending on what song you pick. The game comes with 3 great Black Eyed Peas tracks, including mixes of Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling, and Meet Me Halfway. For a limited time only, you can also get the mashup of “Imma Be/Rock That Body” for free with purchase. For each song, there are 2-3 mixes that can be played in your race to the finish line. At the end of the game, you can view your total points, your achievements, your top scores and dates of when you played, and how you compare to the global leaderboard. You can also share your score via email with your friends.

In-app purchases for 99 cents include various mixes of:
- Tiësto’s Louder Than Boom and Escape Me
- Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction

The game comes in three levels of difficulty — Easy, Medium, and Hard. You must mix up the previous level with an accuracy of 75% or better to unlock the next level. Harder levels include more twists, turns, jumps, and obstacles, both on and off the track.

One option I’d like added to the game is the ability to view the world-wide leaderboard at any time. Currently, you can only view it after you play the game. I personally like to see the scores I need to beat before playing the game. It’s just makes me more competitive.

Overall, the game is a lot of fun, especially if you love The Black Eyed Peas and racing games. The graphics and animation are great and makes you feel as if you are mixing the song. One note, your right hand may sometimes cover the speakers on your iPhone when playing. That’s not good since this game is music-based. I suggest picking up a game wheel accessory or a gamer’s case to enhance your gaming experience with Riddim Ribbon. Have fun, and happy dj-ing!

Riddim Ribbon is currently on sale for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store.

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iPhone App Review: WordCrasher

Written By: Kevin Ng
Category: Games
Price: $0.99 | Free:

Size: 9.1 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.2
Rate: 5 out of 5 Stars

WordCrasher is one of the most addictive word games in the iTunes App store. Whether you love word games or not, you’ll fall in love with this one instantly.

The gameplay is quite simple. Colorful button-like game pieces with letters on them will fall into view. Simply tap on the game pieces to make words. If you make a mistake, tap on the orange X to clear the word or swipe to the left to clear one letter. If you make a word, tap on the green checkmark. You can also swipe downward to make letters fall faster. There are also two types of powerup — Time Freeze and Bomb. The “time freeze” powerup is helpful when you need a little more time to think about the words you’re creating and the “Bomb” is helpful when you need to clear the screen. You can create words using UK, International and US English spellings. Score big by making longer words or words with rare letters like “z” and “q.” Make as many words as you can before the screen fills up!

What’s magical about this game are the beautiful and colorful graphics as well as the realistic way the pieces fall and move in the game. Tilt the iPhone / iPod Touch and game pieces will fall and move around.

Two game modes are available in the full version — marathon and flood panic. In marathon mode, you make words with the game pieces falling down. When the screen fills up, the game is over. In flood panic, water and buoyancy are added to the equation. Game pieces are still falling down, but will float in water. The objective is to make longer words to lower the water level. Once the game pieces reach the top of the screen, the game is over.

WordCrasher uses the OpenFeint social gaming network to keep track of your scores and the leaderboard. Earn achievements and compete with your friends as well as gamers worldwide! Scoring categories include Flood Panic, Vocabulary, Marathon, and Word Score. You can even brag about your scores on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, WordCrasher is very easy to play, fun, and can be quite addictive. The well-polished graphics and physics in the game also makes it really stand out. The best part is, Kevin Ng, the game developer, has already started working on an iPad version of his game. With the faster processor and higher resolution of the iPad, he can use more realistic and detailed graphics without cluttering the game. Read his blog for more details.

For more information about WordCrasher, see their official website. The full version is on sale for only 99 cents. A lite version is also available which allows you to play four levels of marathon mode. Happy word-crashing!

This article was originally published in Beatweek Magazine.

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Video Trailer

The Guild Season 3 and more!

I’m very happy to see my favorite web series, The Guild, just everywhere! The Guild: Season 3 DVD was recently released and comes with so much bonus material! It’s an Amazon exclusive! Bonus material includes Tips for Making a Web Video, Do You Want to Date My Avatar music video, The Making of “Do You Want to Date My Avatar”, Halloween Video, Guild Applicant Rejects, How to Build Vork’s Sword, Interviews with the Axis of Anarchy, Gag Reels, and so much more! My copy arrived earlier this week and I can’t wait to watch Season 3 all over again this weekend!

The amazing DVD cover photo was taken by The Bui Brothers. Catch their behind-the-scenes video of the Guild photoshoot! I love their work.
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Tip: How to Create Gmail Filters

With the introduction of Google Buzz last week and the many emails it introduced, I’ve been actively creating more and more filters to keep my inbox clean. I thought it’d make a nice tip in case your inbox is flooded as well.

If you’re like me and signed up for newsletters, store ads, or other mailing lists, you may want to separate these emails from your more important ones. I personally think important emails should be sent to the inbox and maybe added to an additional label.

Other things from mailing lists can skip the inbox and be added under their own folder, or “label” as Google calls it.
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GameSalad – Create Games without Coding!

I attended MacWorld Expo 2010 recently and one of my favorite booths was GameSalad. They promised that I could make a game without any coding or programming at all. So yes, I was interested! I sat in for the beginner session to see how GameSalad works.

Photo by Albertech.net/@dragonal; Taken at MacWorld Expo 2010; I’m in the lower right!

GameSalad is the world’s most advanced game creation tool for non-programmers. With GameSalad, game makers of all levels can bring their ideas to life without programming a single line of code. Build games visually using a drag-and-drop interface along with a robust behavior system. Publish your games quickly and easy to the iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac Desktop, and the Web.

If you want to learn how to make games for the iPhone (or Mac), try out GameSalad. They had training sessions on the expo floor, which I thought was a lot of fun. Sessions ranged from beginner to advanced, and didn’t require any programming knowledge at all.. just a bit of creativity.

Basically, you can import your graphics (let’s called these actors) into the GameSalad software. Then you can place your actors onto the canvas (like the background) and add in other pieces in layers. Add behaviors to these ‘actors’ and you got yourself a game!

For the beginner session, we made a pinball game. We added the game’s background, along with the flippers, pegs, and pinballs. The flippers behaviors were control by the Left and Right Arrows. When clicked, the flippers would move up in an angle. If the ball touched a peg, points would be added up in a scoreboard.

The creation you create with GameSalad is all yours. This also means if you are creating an iPhone version of the game, an Apple Developer’s license is also require since you are publishing it under your account.

If you’re a graphic designer with an eye for games, definitely consider GameSalad. The software starts at $99 a year. I was able to create a simple pinball game in under 30 minutes… just imagine what you can do with just a little more time.

For more information, see GameSalad.com and follow them on Twitter.

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iPhone App Review: Toy Story Mania

Name: Toy Story Mania
Written By: Walt Disney
Category: Games
Price: $4.99

Size: 50.5 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.0.0
Rate: 4 out of 5 Stars

Come one, come all. Step right up and play the Disney-inspired game called Toy Story Mania! If you’re an avid Disney fan, you have probably already been on the Toy Story Mania ride at Disney’s California Adventure (Anaheim) or Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Orlando). Now imagine all that fun packed right in the palm of your hands.

Just like the theme park ride, you’re taken to mini-games that are represented by their respective characters. Instead of pulling a string on a cannon, you swipe, shoot, flick, pop, and toss things at targets and gain points. Altogether, there are five mini games which include: Hammin’ Eggs, Buzz Lightyears’ Flying Tossers, Bo Pee’s Baaa-loon Pop, Green Army Men Shoot Camp, and Woody’s Rootin’ Tootin’ Shootin’ Gallery.

Choose a mini game by clicking on a toy. Each mini game has 12 stages. The stages are broken into levels of difficulty — easy, normal, and hard. Play each difficulty level in Challenge mode to unlock the next level up. There are two modes of gameplay — Challenge and Free Play. However, only levels you unlocked in Challenge Mode will be playable. Each difficulty level has 5 stages, where one is a bonus stage which unlocks a special item that you can purchase with tickets afterward. Each of these stages have their own unique challenge that you must complete to move onto the next stage.

Here is how the mini-games are played:

- Hammin’ Eggs: slingshot green eggs to hit moving targets on the farm.
- Buzz Lightyears’ Flying Tossers: flick rings to capture rockets and aliens!
- Bo Pee’s Baaa-loon Pop: tap and pop balloons. You have 5 darts, when you’re out of amo, shake to reload.
- Green Army Men Shoot Camp – position the cross-hair target on the plates, and tap to fire.
- Woody’s Rootin’ Tootin’ Shootin’ Gallery – tap on targets to fire suction-cup arrows at them. You’ll need to reload once you fire all 6 arrows.

You also collect tickets while playing the mini games. Trade them in for extra boosts in the mini games. For example, for the Hammin’ Eggs mini-game, you can get a slingshot that fires 3 eggs at one time.

As an added bonus, if you visit the Toy Story Mania attraction at Disney’s California Adventure or Hollywood Studios, the Toy Story wallpapers will unlock and you can save them to your device. This is the only part that would not work well with an iPod Touch since there is no wifi connection available.

The graphics and animation are excellent and will sure bring you back to those Disney memories. The controls on some of the mini games are a bit difficult, especially aiming for the much smaller targets. But then again, those are the ones that are worth the most points.

Overall, this game is well-worth the higher price tag. It packs a lot of games, fun, and action into a nice little app. I highly recommend it if you enjoy carnival games.

Toy Story Mania is available in the iTunes app store for $4.99.

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MacWorld Expo 2010: Abvio Fitness iPhone Apps

I thought Abvio’s Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter iPhone apps deserved Beatweek’s Best of Show Award at MacWorld Expo 2010 for their innovative way of motivating individuals to exercise. I simply loved the features they integrated in the 2.0 versions.

Are you a fitness enthusiast? If you enjoy running, cycling, or going for a walk, try out Abvio’s new line of fitness apps — Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter. These exercise apps use the iPhone’s GPS to track and visualize exercise activities as well as help improve athletic performance and health. Each of these apps are similar to one another except for the fact that they come pre-customized to suit the needs of its user — the walker, runner, or cyclist.

Some of the great features of Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter are:

• An iPhone-centric approach, no Web site accounts, passwords, or ads required.
• Ghost racing against previous runs, walks, and rides along a route.
• On-device calendar of all runs, rides, and walks.
• On-device graphs of pace and elevation.
• On-device manual entry of runs, walks, and rides.
• Exceptional battery conservation.

Some of the new features that were demonstrated to me at MacWorld were pretty innovative! The features in the 2.0 versions include:

• The first apps to support use of the iPhone’s earphone remote to start and stop the stopwatch.
• The first apps on the iPhone to speak Twitter replies using text-to-speech technology.
• The first GPS apps to include a Twitter client for reading and composing tweets.
• The first GPS apps to share runs, walks, and rides using Google Maps, with links as simple as http://j.mp/5ouyIC
• The first GPS apps to use fuzzy logic to filter GPS locations for more accurate GPS location reporting.
• The only apps among our competition to allow full export of all your data.

If you would like more information about Runmeter, Cyclemeter, and Walkmeter, see their official website at Abvio.com

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Valentine iPhone Apps

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. What better way to celebrate with your sweetheart than with iPhone apps? ;) Here is my top 5 Valentine iPhone App list:

Makeout Mania – fun game where you play a mischievous cupid and fire arrows at high school kids to make them kiss and fall in love with one another. There’s also a yearbook that you can read to figure out who likes who (for more points). It’s quite a funny game and is such a bargain at 99 cents. (iTunes)

Sweethearts – send your sweet a special treat, a special virtual treat that is. Necco is promoting their new sweetheart candy flavors, and what better way to do it than in a very adorable app? Create a box of 5 candies that you can tweet to your sweet. The app is free but requires a Twitter account to share your boxes of candy. (Full Review | iTunes)

Valentine’s Daymation (Special Edition Daymation Lite) — is a special day-to-day calendar with a countdown to Valentine’s day. You can leave little sticky notes in an assortment of colors. You can even put notes in the desk. This app is free in the iTunes App Store. (iTunes)
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StickerJam Hearts – add cute hearts and valentine stickers to your photos. The user interface can be improved, but it’s a nice app to use to decorate your photos. (iTunes)
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Love Poem Generator – Are you having writer’s block? Do you want to write a love poem, but just don’t know where to start? No worries, the Love Poem Generator can help you get started. Put together a love poem and email it to your sweet within a few minutes. (iTunes)

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iPhone App Review: Sweethearts

Want to send a special treat to your sweet? Do it right from your iPhone or iPod Touch with the Sweethearts app. Sweethearts are the traditional conversation heart candies from Necco. Now they a fun app that promotes their new candy flavors and their new “Tweet Me” heart.

You start by customizing up to 5 candy hearts to give away. Tap on the candy to edit the text. Add another by tapping on the plus sign. Remove it by dropping it on the trash icon. When you’re happy with your box of candy, you can tweet it, DM (direct message) it to someone, or email them. You must login into Twitter before sharing the box of candy though. Your friend(s) will then get a unique link to the box of candy you made for them. It’s simple and is a fun way to say you care.

There is also an option to browse and view other boxes of candy created worldwide, boxes created by people you are following on Twitter, as well as a retweet option.

What I would like added to this app is the ability to add more than candy hearts in a box as well as pick a song for the candies. Other than that, it’s a simple app to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Here is an example of what the link will take you to. The box of candy will open up for your friend and the candies will be displayed for them to play with.

You can read more about the Sweethearts app on their official website: MySweethearts.com and follow their Twitter account: @my_sweethearts. The app is free and available for download in iTunes App Store.

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Notes from iPhone/iPod Touch Development Seminar

I attended the Software Development for iPhone and iPod Touch Seminar yesterday, presented by Steve Hayman.

He briefly talked about development for the iPad (which is very similar to iPhone / iPod Touch development), as well as how to create web apps and native apps during the presentation. These are my notes from the session.
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Software Development for the iPhone and iPod Touch

I’m attending a special Software Development for the iPhone and iPod Touch Seminar in Riverside, CA this Wednesday. It’s a free two hour workshop on how to create iPhone apps! The session is geared toward students, faculty, and staff from education institutions in Southern California. If you’re interested, there’s more information below. There will be sessions taking place at four different locations in Southern California.

More Times & Locations

• Irvine, CA – Mon, Feb 1 4:00PM to 6:00PM
• La Jolla, CA – Tue, Feb 2 2:30PM to 4:30PM
• Riverside, CA – Wed, Feb 3 10:00AM to 12:00PM
• Northridge, CA – Thu, Feb 4 9:00AM to 11:00PM

About the Seminar

We’ll discuss and demonstrate Apple’s software development tools for the iPhone and iPod touch, and show how individuals and institutions are building innovative mobile applications for their organizations and the wider world. We’ll highlight and deconstruct some popular applications – both web-based, and native – and show you how to get started building your own with Apple’s free developer tools. We’ll talk about web development with Dashcode, native application development with Xcode and Interface Builder, and review the integration and deployment options and Apple’s developer program. And if the presenter messes up, we may accidentally wind up demonstrating the debugger as well.

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iPhone App Review: Super Monkey Ball 2

Name: Super Monkey Ball 2 (iTunes)
Written By: Sega
Category: Games
Price: $9.99 $4.99

Size: 74.8 MB
Requirements: iPhone / iPod Touch
Version: 1.1
Rate: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Last December, Sega launched Super Monkey Ball 2 for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s an amazing followup to the popular original game! If you’re a Super Monkey Ball fan, you’ll be happy to know that SMB 2 has some significant improvements over first version of the game. The graphics are highly impressive. The rolling monkeys are now truly in 3D. And the tilt-meter is much more accurate to the movement and position of the iPhone/iPod Touch, which makes controlling your monkey character much easier.

The concept of the game is very simple. Tilt your iPhone/iPod touch to guide your monkey to the goal. Collect bananas along the way and keep your monkey from falling off the edge of the track. The tracks are are challenging as before, but there’s much greater control with you and the accelerator. There are 115 tracks to play, so the game can keep you occupied for quite some time.

In the main game, you have a few modes to choose from — Single Player, Multiplayer, and Practice. In practice mode, a random track will be chosen for you to play. In Single Player mode, collect bananas and rack up points to unlock new tracks. Multiplayer mode is a fun way to play with your friends! Go head-to-head using a wifi connection. Players take turns selecting up to 5 tracks to compete in. Player with the most points wins.

While you are playing, you may also notice a small video icon on the lower left corner. This option allows you to record and save your gameplays. You can save up to 10 of these videos and can view them in the “View Replays” option. It’s a very cool feature, and I hope there’s a way to export the videos in the future.

There is also a mini game called “Monkey Bowling” where you can take turns rolling the monkeys to knock over pins. Multiplayer mode is also available, but only one iPhone/iPod Touch device is needed. Two other mini games — Monkey Golf and Monkey Target — will be available in the near future as a free update.

Overall, the controls are smooth and accurately reflect the player’s movement. Super Monkey Ball 2 is really fun and entertaining, and will keep you occupied for hours and hours. Take the monkeys — Aiai, Baby, Meemee, Gongon — out for a spin!

Learn more about Super Monkey Ball 2 for iPhone and iPod touch in the App Store.

This article was originally published in iProng Magazine.

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MacWorld 2010 Schedule

I’m attending MacWorld Expo 2010 in two weeks and I’m super excited about it! I’m mostly interested in iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app development (both web and native) as well as meeting other app developers. It’s going to be super geeky fun! They’re also having a Special iPad Event, so I’ll get to test out Apple’s new creation! I hope to see you there! Register for MacWorld Expo if you haven’t already.

Daynah’s MacWorld 2010 Schedule

Here is my tentative schedule for the week. The bold items are events I’ll definitely go to and the rest are the ones I’ll try to make to.

Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

• 9:00 AM – 10:00AM – Late night with David Pogue
• 10:00AM – 6:00PM – MacWorld Expo Exhibit Hall
  • 12:15 PM – 12:35 PM – Abvio
  • 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM – Navigon
• 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Q&A: Kevin Smith
• 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Feature Presentations: The Photoshop 20th Anniversary
• 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Appency Media Dinner
• 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM – Cirque du Mac 7.0

Friday, Feb. 12, 2010

• 9:00AM – 10:00AM – Feature Presentations: Revolution from the Rest of Us with Guy Kawasaki
• 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM – SA: Web Development: Tools, Trends and Technology
• 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM – US955: Youth and Educational Tools
• 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM – US954: Stereo 3D Animation with Adobe Photoshop & AfterEffects CS4
• 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Macworld Live! with Leo Laporte
• 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Feature Presentations: The Gruber 10: Apple’s Top Issues
• 6:30PM – TWiT Meet Up at the Marriott Marquis on 4th Street

Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010

• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM – IT863: Making Your Sites iPhone Friendly
• 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Feature Presentations: Macworld presents: BT!
• 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM – US982: Demystifying iPhone (& iPad) App Development: A Non-Technical Overview for Decision-Makers and Idea People
• 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM – MacWorld Expo Exhibit Hall
• 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM – IT873: Custom iPhone Development
• 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Feature Presentations: Macworld 2010 Special iPad Event

Related Post

• MacWorld Expo 2009

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My Thoughts on the Apple iPad

Apple finally unveiled the highly anticipated tablet today called the iPad. When I heard it was called the “iPad,” the first thing that popped into my mind was definitely not a multimedia device. I can understand Apple wanting to stick with the iPxx naming scheme, but they could have broken out of that and called it an iSlate or iTablet, or iTab or something like that. But, we’ll save the jokes for later. Let’s talk about this new creation!

Although I haven’t actually touched or seen an iPad up close, I already know I love and I want it. I’ve already thought about what I would use it for months ago. I’ve actually been shopping around for an eBook reader for some time now. I liked the simplicity of the Kindle, but also the complexity of the Entourage Edge that I saw at CES. The iPhone has spoiled me with all the touchscreen movements and commands that seeing buttons on a device like the just doesn’t seem appealing to me.

I’ve very happy that I waited on purchasing an eBook reader. I know I’ll be using the iPad for mainly that purpose. I don’t expect it to replace my netbook completely, but it can once more hardware is added to it (probably in the next versions). The iPad may seem bare right now, but I think it has a lot of potential. The new SDK is out, and seeing the kind of apps that developers are able to make for the iPhone just makes me think this iPad can pretty much do anything.

I’ve invested a lot of time and money in my iTunes App collection, so hearing that all iPhone / iPod Touch apps will work on the iPad was such a joy. That was definitely the right move on Apple. I can’t wait to play some of my games on such a big screen. It’ll definitely be a fabulous experience. Plus, if you invested a lot of money in your Kindle eBook collection, they will still be readable using the Kindle iPhone app. Also, I’ve always wanted a Wacom Cintq so I could draw and edit graphics right on the screen. Although the iPad isn’t as powerful, I can see basic features for it in a drawing app. I’m sure there will be stylus accessories coming soon.

Things I love about the iPad are:

• App Compatibility – being able to use iPhone apps on the iPad will prove to be very powerful. This will be in the hands of app developers and I can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with next!
• Design – the design looks gorgeous. It also seems a bit fragile, but that’s a great reason to shop for some amazing accessories. I’m hoping Speck will come up with something super awesome.
• Lightweight – it’s only 1.5 pounds and is super thin. It has the basic options and is prefect for the frequent traveler.
• User-Interface – the UI is familiar, elegant, and beautiful. Perfect for average users as well as super geeks.
• Color – why read in black and white when you can have color?

So those are my main uses of the iPad – ebook reader, gaming console, and an artist tool. As great as this tool sounds, there are a couple of drawbacks:

• No Camera – the biggest drawback to my iPod Touch was the lack of a camera. When I first got my iPod Touch, I didn’t mind hunting for wifi hotspots as much as I did not having a camera. A lot of the apps used had a picture upload feature, and I wasn’t able do use it. Sure I had a separate camera with me, but pictures wouldn’t have the instant upload quality that I was looking for. I’m guessing there’s no camera option to keep the price on the device in the affordable range.
• No multi-tasking – is a big negative on the device. The iPhone has a much smaller screen, so running one app at a time sort of makes sense. But the iPad has so much screen real estate that running only one app at a time doesn’t make sense to me at all. I’d like to listen to music and surf the web at the same time, not just look at an album cover while the music is playing. When I’m surfing the web, I like to copy and paste text into Evernote so I can remember things. Closing apps and opening each one everytime seems to be a lot of steps to me. This is a software issue though. Hopefully we can see an update to the OS in the near future. Being a geek, I want a little more control over my devices.
• Storage Space – When I travel, I like to dump my photos onto my netbook so I have extra space on my sd and cf cards. I’m not sure if there’s an easy way for me to do this on the iPad. Looking at the specs, I don’t see a usb slot anywhere. And also, why would I want to store my photos on another machine just to sync it onto my iPad? This would make sense if I wanted to carry around my portfolio or a presentation on the iPad. I don’t see myself putting my vacation photos on here.
• Note-taking capabilities – The main reason I want an eReader is to read technology books (away from the computer). I’d like to be able to take notes on the pages and such, just like I would in a textbook. I’m hoping the iBook app or the other book apps themselves would have this feature.
• Model Options – I don’t quite understand why there are so many model options. Couldn’t Apple just cut out the wifi only models? Surely the hardware to add 3G capabilities isn’t over $100 is it? I say $20 extra max.

Overall, I think it would be an amazing eBook reader that happens to do a little more. Remember when the first iPhone came out? I didn’t do too much beside make calls, look pretty, and tell you what time it was. Look at what the iPhone is now. With the explosion of apps, it could do and be anything. So app developers, go code and make me proud! There is the incentive of being showcased front and center if your app is optimized for the iPad! I’ll be on the lookout for some amazing ones to review!

I don’t think the iPad is for everyone. But if you get one, what would you use it for? What do you like or dislike about it?

Many thanks TWIT.tv, GDGT, and SlashGear for their live blogging of the Apple Special Event! It was so much fun to follow and I felt like I was as the event!

For more information on the Apple iPad, see their official website.

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TouchPetsDogs – 3 Pups!

I’ve been playing Touch Pets Dogs for the iPhone for a long time now — every since it was released in the iTunes App store. But this is the first time I ran into this bug. I actually LIKE this bug though! Usually you can only play with at most two dogs at the same time. I somehow got three on the screen. :)

I was finishing up one of the careers that needed a Crimefighting Dog. So I clicked on partner dog and selected a crimefighting one. Then I found out I didn’t have enough money to buy the career tool, so I hit cancel. And somehow, all three dogs — two are mine, and one was a friend’s (crimefighting dog) — appeared on my screen. I was able to move and play with each one of them!

Anyhow, here’s my pet Gizmo’s career status. He’s almost done with Crime Fighting school… I’m waiting for the Alien career to be added next.

And here’s my Plus+ status for TouchPetDogs. I’m an Advanced Mega Superstar Owner… I already maxed out on the achievements. heh

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