Hey all, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything. As most all of you know, Apple has announced iOS 7, the largest design change to iOS ever. The new design elements have cause quite a stir among both Apple fans, haters and industry pundits. While the overall response has been positive, many people have called this massive change in design philosphy “un Apple-like.”
Legendary designer Peter Molyneux (@pmolyneux) has designed a multitude of classic games. His latest, Curiosity, has the potential to change the way the world views games. This pleasant mysterious game is the first of one of 22 “experiments” by game studio 22cans (@22cans), and leaves me ready for the next experiment.
While Adobe Shadow has been available for quite some time, few designers and developers know of the power it can add to a responsive website.
Adobe Shadow works by sending an HTML page complete with CSS and JavaScript to your mobile device. What makes it different is how the device keeps up with your main desktop machine.
When I first reviewed Minecraft: Pocket Edition back in March, I could not recommend it due to its lack of crafting and it’s infinite tools/materials. Now, The developers have added in crafting, furnaces, and more, and with each update the game gets closer and closer to its PC and Xbox 360 counterparts. It’s like a whole new game has come to the App Store.
There have been few apps that have really taken off on the App Store. Even less are free. Hero Academy is one of those apps. And it’s incredible.
In Hero Academy, you control a team of little Warriors, Archers, Healers and Wizards who you guide to attack and knock out enemy players.
Last March, Apple announced the iPad 2. With a thinner form factor, camera, FaceTime, the A5 processor and all-new graphics. Now, a year and six days later, Apple is about to unleash the Next-Generation iPad, which may be called the iPad 3 or iPad 2S, and no doubt it will change the world.
Hardware
The iPad 2S (that’s what I’ll call it in this post) will most definitely come with improved hardware, especially improving on the current A5 chip.
When Minecraft hit the scene in 2009, nobody thought it would be the huge phenomenon it is today. When Minecraft was officially released in November 2011, Mojang released a corresponding “Pocket Edition” for iOS. While the Pocket Edition just added Survival, it is still a huge letdown as there is no crafting and the worlds are incredibly small.
While there is no crafting, you do still have tools, and you will find that you must use the right tool for the job to get it all done. However, the lack of crafting leads in turn to infinite usages, adding a certain feeling of cheating to the game.
Just last year, the iOS App Store hit 10 Billion downloads. Now, the App Store is about to hit 25 Billion downloads. The countdown has started. And someone is going to win.
The significance of this far outweighs the facts, however. In just four years, four years, the App Store has had 25 billion downloads! To put that into perspective, that’s more than three for everyone on earth!
With iOS 5, Apple introduced Reminders, their to do list app for the iPhone and iPad. While Reminders had many features (location based reminders is great), it lacks an excellent interface or the Multi-Touch gestures iOS has been so globally recognized for. Clear, from Realmac Software, combines functionality, usability, and beauty all in one awesome package.