Tag Archives: ipod

We Farm Released and Full Review

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So at midnight (PST) ngmoco:) relleased it “sequal” to We Rule and the Farmville killer “We Farm.” So lets get into my review.

Farmville has only just appeared on the iPhone, and ngmoco is already testing the waters with their own farming sim, We Farm. If you thought We Rule was the developer’s answer to the Facebook farming phenomenon, you were only half right.

Everything about We Farm should be immediately familiar to We Rule fans; from the plot of land you are originally assigned, to the farms (called gardens) you have to maintain, to the Gro (think Mojo) you have to purchase to speed up various processes, there is little initial difference between the two games.

The differences become more apparent as you play through the tutorial which quickly progresses you to a level 6 farmer. Building a coop allows you to raise chickens (and later ducks and, I assume, other fowl as you progress in the game) which you must pet to keep happy. This latter innovation brings a simple type of Tamagochi pet management to We Farm, but it remains to be seen if this is developed at later levels in the game. I’m currently building some of the other farm areas available during the early stages in the game, so it remains to be seen what other new features We Farm will surprise me with.

The overall presentation of We Farm is, if you can believe it, even more cartoonish and exaggerated than We Rule, and the sound effects and music complement this approach perfectly, with frequent interludes of hayseed, down home banjos and harmonicas. It definitely has its charms, but will fans of We Rule want to build a similar mini-society in a similar way? The two games are very much alike.

We Farm is available on all of your iDevices.

Personally I love We Rule and can not wait to level up on We Farm. If you want to add me email me at conner@techgeec.com and I’ll give you my username so we can be friends. I do not want to give it out here because I really don’t want spammers.

DigiDNA Exclusive Coupon Code – 30% OFF

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DigiDNA, the makers of DiskAid, have given TechGeec.com an exclusive coupon code for 30% off your purchase from DigiDNA.net. To use the coupon, simply download DiskAid from http://www.digidna.net/techgeec

Our YouTube channel has a video tutorial on transferring music from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to your computer using DiskAid. Give it a watch below and let us know what you think about DiskAid in the comments below. Happy transferring!

Apple Announces WWDC 2010

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The Moscone Center Calendar lists a “Corporate Event” from June 28, 2010 through July 2, 2010 in the Moscone West hall. Previous Apple events have been reserved with the same title.

This year, WWDC 2009 ran June 8 through June 12. In previous years, the event has marked the introduction of new iPhone models. This June, Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS.

The original iPhone debuted on June 29, 2007, along with an exclusive contract with carrier AT&T. Since then, it has been rumored that the two parties are locked into a three-year deal due to expire next summer. While AT&T has reportedly attempted to extend that contract, rumors have persisted that Apple will expand to other carriers.

If WWDC could be booked to coincide with the expiration of the current contract with AT&T. Recent reports have suggested that Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., could offer a CDMA compatible iPhone next year. Some analysts see Verizon as the best choice for Apple to expand the platform, but others feel technical limitations and different corporate styles could serve as a roadblock for such a deal.

For their part, Verizon officials said last week that their network would be capable of handling the added bandwidth from the addition of the iPhone. They did not, however, imply that the handset was coming to their network.

Another option could be T-Mobile. While the fourth-largest carrier in the U.S. does not have the size or stature of AT&T or Verizon, it is a GSM-based network, meaning compatibility with T-Mobile would be simple to accomplish with the existing iPhone hardware. Given the simplicity of such a move, some have predicted it to happen in 2010.

iPhone OS 4.0 Rumors and Event Date

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Apple has announced an iPhone OS 4 event on April 8th at 10AM PT for a “sneak peek of the next generation of iPhone OS software.” So if you’re wondering about the future of the platform… your answers will appear sooner than you think. It’s also pretty unusual to see such a big event coming from Apple right on the heels of something like the iPad launch.

Here Are Some Rumors That Might Be Talked About At The Event:

The upcoming 4.0 reference release of Apple’s iPhone OS will deliver new support for running multiple concurrent third party apps, and allow users to switch between them using a windows management mechanism similar to one made popular on the company’s Mac OS X operating system.

The technology, detailed by people familiar with Apple’s plans for the new firmware, will finally allow users to launch multiple apps in the background and quickly switch between them, as AppleInsider exclusively reported earlier this month. Currently, a running app must be quit when the user returns to the Home screen.

Apple initially avoided an app model supporting multiple apps running at once to help preserve battery life and simplify the user experience. Other platforms that do support the launching of multiple apps, including Android and Windows Mobile, require users to manually manage system resources and kill off performance robbing background tasks.

Today’s iPhone 3.x firmware is a fully preemptive multitasking operating system, but it artificially restricts apps (other than specific ones bundled with the system by Apple) from running in the background.

Iconic Expose

Those familiar with the design of iPhone 4.0 said that the user interface will resemble Apple’s desktop Expose feature, in that a key combination — reportedly hitting the Home button twice — will trigger an expose-like interface that brings up a series of icons representing the currently running apps, allowing users to quickly select the one they want to switch to directly. When a selection is made, the iPhone OS zooms out of the Expose task manager and transitions to that app.

Apple patented the Mac OS X Expose concept in 2005, but the desktop implementation relies upon scaling each application’s widows so that they all fit into the screen in a single layer without any overlap.

On the iPhone, scaling down several screen views to fit into the relatively small display would be problematic, and apps never have multiple windows, so the new mechanism currently presents just each app’s icon. This renders the feature more similar to the basic Command+Tab app switcher than Expose itself as a desktop feature, but people who’ve been privy to pre-release builds of the iPhone 4.0 OS say it exhibits several characteristics of the Expose brand.

Two other features seen in pre-release builds of iPhone 4.0 are a global mailbox view and the ability to add individual contacts to the iPhone’s home screen, such as a button that will call “Mom” or “Dad” directly. Since the software remains under active development, there’s always the possibility that either or both of these enhancements could be chopped in the coming months.

Multiple apps without broken security

Controversy over “multitasking” within the iPhone OS has been brewing ever since Apple launched iPhone 2.0 with the ability to run third party software titles. While often reported as being a technical flaw, the iPhone OS really has no problem with multitasking. The system’s phone, SMS, email, iPod, voice recorder, Nike+, and certain other bundled apps can continue in the background while the user launches another app.

However, third party titles obtained from the App Store (including apps from Apple, such as Remote or iDisk) can not be launched at the same time. This is currently only possible after jailbreaking the system, where the iPhone OS security model is compromised via an exploit, allowing the user to launch and run multiple apps.

This also opens the door to both malware and widespread piracy, both of which have been contained by the default security system put in place by Apple. At the same time, Apple’s signed app model in iTunes with its mandatory certificate security mechanism means that iPhone users will be able to run multiple apps from the App Store without fear that their software will spy on them, pop up ads, or send out spam.

Other platform vendors do not mandate rigid security for their software libraries, with Android permissively allowing users to install apps from any source, something that will likely serve as a welcome mat for malicious hackers once that platform gains enough visibility.

Notifications pay off on the way to multitasking

Rather than immediately jumping to a multitasking environment for the iPhone, Apple introduced a system-wide push notifications service to enable third party apps to appear to respond to outside updates (such as incoming messages or news alerts) even when they were not actually running.

The company has worked to refine this mechanism before moving to a fully multitasking model, which means that existing apps with notification support won’t necessarily need to be launched in the background just to continually poll for updates. Additionally, third party apps that are running in the background will be less likely to drain performance and battery compared to other platforms because the notification mechanism is more efficient than having multiple apps each polling a remote server for their own updates.

For example, RIM’s BlackBerry OS has long offered multitasking support for apps but the company only recently opened up its push delivery infrastructure to third party developers. As a result, most of the relatively small library of BlackBerry apps are designed to inefficiently poll a server for information rather than avail themselves of the BlackBerry’s famous push messaging features.

Google provides no standard mechanism for system-wide push on Android, forcing developers to all roll their own support. Meanwhile, Microsoft is planning to roll the clock back with Windows Phone 7 later this year, erasing its existing multitasking support for third party apps in Windows Mobile to deliver a model patterned after iPhone 2.0.

Doodle Kart App Review

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                                        Name: Doodle Kart
Category: Games
Homepage: Jerry Lee
Rating:
Version: 1.0
Size: 46.4 MB
Price: $0.99

Doodle games, with graphics that appear to have been hand drawn, are hot. Lima Sky’s Doodle Jump, for example, is currently sitting in third place in the best-selling apps column.

Among the latest of these games is  Doodle Kart from j2sighte, a novel top-down racing game that pits cleverly crafted racers against each other on a graph paper background. j2sighte says Doodle Kart was inspired  by Sauce Digital’s Nano Rally, a similar game also with hand-drawn graphics.

There are five stages with 25 unique tracks in all, providing for hours of track time.  To begin , you’ll choose between single race and championship modes. In single mode, you have the option of going solo or playing against a CPU opponent.
In Championship mode, you have the option of taking it easy, normal, hard or nightmare.

After choosing one of three cars, you can select settings for speed, acceleration, handling, weight and items, actually weapons, such as pencils and rockets and other power ups. You control the car using a gas and brake pedals in the lower right corner.

You have two options for steering your car: touch and tilt. Touch is accomplished using right/left arrows. If you opt for Doodle Kart’s tilt control  you’ll find there are three settings (low, medium and high). I found maneuvering the course using tilt control to be difficult, so I decided to stick with the right/left arrow touch controls.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but I initially found the car difficult to control, even on it’s lowest settings. It took a few hours of playing before I started to feel comfortable. I finally settled on setting my speed and acceleration to about the halfway mark and handling cranked all the way up. You’ll want to experiment with these settings because they make quite a bit of difference.

Doodle Kart features a number of other options. There’s the usual music and soundtrack on/off switches,  portrait or landscape mode, tilt control on/off and item or weapon.

This app also has leader boards, forums, chat and other functions derived from the increasingly popular OpenFeint social networking platform.

Apple’s New iPad

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It’s hard to believe we could fit so many great ideas into something so thin.

A large, high-resolution LED-backlit, IPS display. An incredibly responsive Multi-Touch screen. And an amazingly powerful, Apple-designed chip. All in a design that’s thin and light enough to take anywhere. iPad isn’t just the best device of its kind. It’s a whole new kind of device. Watch the iPad video

LED-backlit, IPS Display

The high-resolution, 9.7 inch LED-backlit, IPS display on iPad is remarkably crisp and vivid. Which makes it perfect for web browsing, watching movies, or showing off photos. It’s also been designed to work in any orientation — portrait or landscape. And because it uses a display technology called IPS (in-plane switching), it has a wide, 178° viewing angle. So you can hold it almost any way you want, and still get a brilliant picture, with excellent color and contrast.

Multi-Touch

The Multi-Touch screen on the iPad uses the same revolutionary technology that’s in an iPhone. But for iPad, the technology has been completely reengineered for the larger surface, to make it extremely precise and responsive. So when you’re zooming in on a map, flicking through your photos, or deleting an email, iPad responds with incredible accuracy. And it does just what you want it to.

Thin and light

One of the first things you’ll notice about the iPad is how thin and light it is. The screen is 9.7 inches, measured diagonally. So overall, it’s slightly smaller than a magazine. And at just 1.5 lbs and 0.5 inches thin,1 it’s easy to carry and use anywhere. There’s also a slight curve to the back. Which makes it easy to pick up and comfortable to hold.

10 hours.

Up to 10 hours
battery life

To maximize battery life, Apple engineers took the same lithium polymer battery technology they developed for our notebook computers and applied it to the iPad. As a result, you can use iPad for up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, or listening to music.2

Wireless

With built-in 802.11n, iPad can take advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks. And it’ll automatically locate available Wi-Fi networks, which you can easily join with a few simple taps. iPad also comes with Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, which lets you connect to devices like wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard.

3G

iPad will also be available in a 3G model, with super-fast data speeds up to 7.2 Mbps.3 So if you’re traveling, or you happen to be somewhere that doesn’t have a Wi-Fi network, you can still get a fast connection for surfing the web, downloading email, or getting directions.

Performance

Apple A4 chip.The A4 chip inside iPad was custom-designed by Apple engineers to be extremely powerful, and yet extremely power efficient. So the performance is unlike anything you’ve ever seen on a touch-based device. Which makes iPad fantastic for everything from productivity apps to games. But at the same time, the A4 chip is so power efficient that it helps iPad get up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge. And iPad is available with a choice of 16, 32 or 64GB flash storage.4 Which gives you lots of room for your photos, movies, music, apps, and more.

Connectivity

The 30-pin dock connector on the bottom of the iPad allows you to dock and charge it. It also lets you connect to iPad accessories like the Camera Connection Kit or the Keyboard Dock.

Audio

The powerful, built-in speaker produces a full, rich sound. Which makes watching a movie or listening to music even more enjoyable. It also comes with a headphone jack and a built-in microphone.

30-pin connector. Built-in speaker.

Accessories

There are lots of great accessories that have been specifically designed for iPad. The Keyboard Dock, for instance, is a dock with a full-size keyboard. There’s also a standalone Dock. And because iPad has built-in Bluetooth 2.1, it’ll work with an Apple Wireless Keyboard, too. There’s also a Camera Connection Kit that lets you import photos from a camera or SD card. There’s even an iPad Case that not only protects it, it also allows you to use iPad in various positions, to make it easy to type, look at photos, or watch movies. And through a range of accessories, iPad can output to TVs, projectors and displays. Learn more about iPad accessories in Tech Specs

Technical Specifications

Size and weight1

Height:
9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
Width:
7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
Depth:
0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
Weight:
1.5 pounds (.68 kg) Wi-Fi model;
1.6 pounds (.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model

Display

  • 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
  • 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
  • Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
  • Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Wireless and Cellular

Wi-Fi model
  • Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Wi-Fi + 3G model
  • UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
  • GSM/EDGE (850, 900,1800, 1900 MHz)
  • Data only2
  • Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Location

  • Wi-Fi
  • Digital compass
  • Assisted GPS (Wi-Fi + 3G model)
  • Cellular (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

In the Box

  • iPad
  • Dock connector to USB cable
  • 10W Power Adapter
  • Documentation

Environmental Status Report

iPad embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:

  • Arsenic-free display glass
  • BFR-free
  • Mercury-free LCD display
  • PVC-free
  • Recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure

Capacity3

  • 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive

Processor

  • 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

Sensors

  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light sensor

Audio Playback

  • Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
  • Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
  • User-configurable maximum volume limit

TV and Video

  • Support for 1024 x 768 with Dock Connector to VGA adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Composite A/V Cable, 576i and 480i with Apple Composite A/V Cable
  • H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Mail attachment support

  • Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Languages

  • Language support for English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian
  • Keyboard support for English (US) English (UK), French (France, Canada), German, Japanese (QWERTY), Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese (Handwriting and Pinyin), Russian
  • Dictionary support for English (US), English (UK), French, French (Canadian), French (Swiss), German, Japanese, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin), Russian

Accessibility

  • Support for playback of closed-captioned content
  • VoiceOver screen reader
  • Full-screen zoom magnification
  • White on black
  • Mono audio

Battery and Power4

  • Built-in 25Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
  • Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
  • Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

Input and Output

  • Dock connector
  • 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
  • Built-in speakers
  • Microphone
  • SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model only)

External buttons and controls

  • On/Off, Sleep/wake
  • Mute
  • Volume up/down
  • Home

Mac system requirements

  • Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
  • Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
  • iTunes 9.0 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
  • iTunes Store account
  • Internet access

Windows system requirements

  • PC with USB 2.0 port
  • Windows 7, Windows Vista; Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later
  • iTunes 9.0 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
  • iTunes Store account
  • Internet access

Yet another unbelievable feature: The price.

With iPad, you get all our latest innovations. And all our most advanced technologies. In one of the most revolutionary products we’ve ever created. All at a price that’s well within reach.

16 GB 32 GB 64 GB
Wi-Fi $499 $599 $699
Wi-Fi + 3G $629 $729 $829
  • Prices in US Dollars. International pricing will be announced at a later date.
  • 3G data plan sold separately.

Leave a comment below to tell us what you think of the new iPad.

Soft Feel Silicone Case by Proporta

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Proporta’s Soft Feel silicone case for the second generation iPod touch is out of this world. It is by far the best silicone case reviewed by TechGeec.com because of it’s protection as well as it’s unbelievably stunning design. As for all of Apple’s touch screen devices, the Soft Feel case is only available for the second generation iPod touch and sells for a price of $20.95.

Along the lines of protection, the Soft Feel case does a magnificent job, offering dual-layer protection. The case is made of a fairly thin white layer of silicon and about that is a thicker black layer of silicone. These two different colored layers really work well together playing off of one another to create a very unique look.

The design (being a silicone case) blows my mind and what really attracts me to it is the stealth-like look. The holes in the black layer of silicone allow the raised parts of the lower, white layer of silicone to rise through creating a very pleasing design. Although the Proporta logo (an armadillo) does get displayed twice (once on the front, lower left-hand corner as well as on the back along with the company’s name), it truly does not bother me at all because it flows very nicely with the rest of the case’s design. Of course you have all of the proper cutouts to allow easy access to the volume rockers, power/sleep button, and the 30-pin dock connector as well as the headphone jack.

As previously stated, this case is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to everyone. You can find more information on the case at Proporta.com and if this case doesn’t particularly interest you, can check out the other 2,700+ gadget accessories in Proporta‘s catalog.

A Note From the Editors of TechGeec: Though all products and services reviewed by TechGeec are “final,” many companies now make changes to their offerings after publication of our reviews, which may or may not be reflected above.

MOD Shell by CaseCrown

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CaseCrown‘s MOD Shell could quite possibly be the best case for the iPod Touch 2G/3G [at an affordable cost - $19.99 ($12.21 as of December 28, 2009)]. The MOD Shell is available in Red/Black and White/Black. It’s design blows other comparative cases out of the water along with it’s affordable price.

The case is made from a premium grade synthetic leather which appeals to a vast majority of animal lovers. The faux leather not only looks like real leather, but it also smells like real leather which many companies cannot seem to be able to do. On the back of the case is a single, thick fiber woven stripe which seems to give the case a sporty design. The only suggestion I could give to make this case the best it can be, would be to make the thread outlining the stripe red on the red/black version. On the white/black version of the case, the thread outlining the white fiber woven stripe is white which accents the stripe beautifully.

The upper part of the left side of the case is left open to expose the volume rockers, the bottom is open to expose the 30-pin dock connector as well as the headphone jack, and the top is, of course, left open so that you can slide your device in and out. What I really enjoy, though, about the case is that the top does not go too high as to make it difficult to press the sleep/power button, contrary to DSstyle’s Twill Series. Finally, the small logo on the front does not take away from the chic design of the case. Many cases have the company’s name/logo printed too large. CaseCrown’s logo on the MOD Shell is just the right size.

The MOD Shell by CaseCrown is by far one of the best cases around and at an affordable price. You can view the MOD Shell for the iPod Touch HERE or the iPhone version HERE.

A Note From the Editors of TechGeec: Though all products and services reviewed by TechGeec are “final,” many companies now make changes to their offerings after publication of our reviews, which may or may not be reflected above.

Unreal Engine 3 Ported to iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch 3G

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AnandTech has reported that Epic Games, the creators of games such as the Gears of War series, BioShock, numerous Tom Clancy games, and so on, have been able to port their Unreal Engine 3 (the “engine” that runs the games) to the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3G.

Quote (via AnandTech):

The demo is both playable and has a flythrough. It’s using a modified Unreal Tournament level previously shown off at GDC. A virtual thumbstick on the left side of the screen controls your movement, while tracking your thumb in the lower right corner of the screen controls the camera. Just tap the screen to shoot. Mark said this is a tech test bed and they’re experimenting with several different control schemes including ones with tilt…

..It requires OpenGL ES 2.0, so the iPhone 2G and 3G won’t work, nor will the older iPod Touch models. It doesn’t really matter though, this is just a starting point…

Here’s a short demo video:

You can find more about this story over at AnandTech.com.

BudgetGadgets’ Touch Stylus Pen

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*Use the coupon code “MerryXmas” on BudgetGadgets.com until December 31, 2009 for 8% off  store-wide!

Budget Gadgets is an amazing website with iPhone and iPod Touch accessories (all of which are unbelievably cheap). Their Stylus Touch Pen (price: $2.33) was shipped to me for review. The stylus works just as any other stylus would, however, it works with capacitive touch screens (such as the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Zune HD). This stylus works because it is conductive and when it is brought close to the screen of the device it changes the local electrostatic field (for more information, click HERE).

The stylus has a nice design. When you order the stylus’s you have a choice between the black and the chrome. Each stylus also has a clip on the top so that you can go ahead and clip it on to a shirt pocket or other type of pocket. I have noticed, though, that with both stylus’s, they tend to occasionally attract finger prints.

I find that using a stylus can benefit many people (primarily those with large fingers). It’s easier to use the stylus than your finger because it has a smaller point so you know exactly what/where you are selecting. Notwithstanding, a fantastic add on that could have been included, would have been a clip-on type accessory that could clip on to the back of the device to hold the stylus so that you are not forced to keep it in a pocket. To grasp all of the points in this review better, feel free to watch the short video review below.

A Note From the Editors of TechGeec: Though all products and services reviewed by TechGeec are “final,” many companies now make changes to their offerings after publication of our reviews, which may or may not be reflected above.