Sure .. we’ve seen rally-type games before, but what you probably haven’t seen is one that just looks this good. Below is the first teaser trailer from Pixelbite Games of their debut App Store application, Deliverace. Imagine a classic top-down racing game like Neo Drift Out .. and then times it by ten!

Sure .. we’ve seen rally-type games before, but what you probably haven’t seen is one that just looks this good. Below is the first teaser trailer from Pixelbite Games of their debut App Store application, Deliverace. Imagine a classic top-down racing game like Neo Drift Out .. and then times it by ten!
I have to say, if this teaser video does depict anywhere close to what we can expect from Deliverace’s actual gameplay quality, I’m pretty excited. I think this one could be a pretty big hit.

With no word on pricing yet, it’s hard to tell just how much of a hit this will be on its debut. But, with 3D graphics like the above .. I think we’re in for quite a visual treat. According to the studio Deliverace is set to hit our iPhone screens ‘Early 2010? – and considering its the start of March already, I can’t see the release being too far away, can you?

Soon SVT Play will be available for the iPhone. The application just has to be approved by Apple first – which unfortunately can take some time. SVT (the Swedish public service broadcaster) is running a cute campaign-site labeled “Dear Steve Jobs” They want to speed up the approval, I see it more as an honorable compliment to Steve Jobs, we all love him, I know i do! ; )

I believe that Mr. Jobs seen the campaign site, I have not a single doubt in my bones… And he is probably very flattered But it’s doubtful that Jobs would speed up the approval, If he did we’d have all-kinds of campaigning sites. I think we all should put our energy in more important and pressing things that we are facing right now global warming, kids dying in malaria etc.

But still when I think of it this app could be a help too and not just an app for our viewing pleasure. SVT Play will be approved, SVT is a public service broadcaster of high quality.

Startup chime stopped working on my iMac (24-inch Early 2008) running OS X 10.6.1 Snow Leaopard, i don’t know when this happened since i rarely restart my system. But still it got me worried and it’s been bugging me.

But the solution was as simple as i thought, it was the parameter memory i just zapped the PRAM, If you are experiencing this same problem try turn you computer down and hold down these keys and restart your system CMD + ALT + P + R keep holding them down till your system boots up.

Hope this helps you, it did the trick for me, oh and if you are using i wireless keyboard please plug in your USB-Keyboard before this procedure.

Hope it can be of help, if your “Chime” Startup Sound is gone.

This is a teaser trailer for Glenn Marshall’s iPhone music visualization application, Zio.

Marshall is known to Synthtopia readers for his amazing generative music videos.

About Zio, Marshall says:

I would say I’m at the half way stage now, and after doubting almost daily the project and my ability to realise it, for the first time I feel confident that I can actually pull this off and come up with something half decent on the iPhone.

The direction I’m taking for my first app will be based on the ‘Music is Math’ animation style, semi-abstract, in black and white – roots and vines growing endlessly in real-time. It will be interactive, respond to touch,orientation etc, have randomising features and maybe a few other tricks.

The demo runs smoothly at 24 fps, it can run a lot faster, but I need headroom to implement the rest of the visuals to be added – to be included next will be the shading/shadow algoritms (more bitmaps), the sprites/particles flying around through a perlin noise field, and also I can hopefully have a duplicate layer of the growing vines in the background, as is common in all my videos to date using this system.

Marshall adds:

I want to create something enigmatic, sublime. Like my mum said when I showed it to her, it’s peaceful to watch, like an aquarium… which is a very good comparison.

Marshall’s work reminds me of fractals, in the way that they seem to offer infinite detail as you look closer, and of Brian Eno’s music, in the way he creates controlled processes to create something beautiful.

Let me know what you think of Glenn Marshall’s Zio. Can you see using something like this as a visualizer to accompany live electronic music?

Here is a sneak peek at the Beatles’ remastered box set to be released on September 9th, 2009. The original Beatles catalog has been digitally remastered for the first time. Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album.

The collection comprises all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK, and ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ which became part of The Beatles’ core catalogue when the CDs were first released in 1987. In addition, the collections ‘Past Masters Vol. I and II’ are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc.

These 14 albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set. Within each CD’s new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. With the exception of the ‘Past Masters’ set, newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere.  No US pricing has been established for the box set.

What it was: A trackball-controlled arcade classic, released by Atari in 1984. You had to guide your marble through six perilous courses. Think Super Monkey Ball’s granddad, with a penchant for Escher and isometric projection, minus the monkeys.

What we’d like to see: Although there were, at the last count, 46 billion iPhone ‘marble rolling’ games, most of them suck, and none hold a candle to Mark Cerny’s Atari classic. Since other Atari games have made it to iPhone relatively intact, there’s no reason why Marble Madness couldn’t make an appearance, perhaps with the choice of of tilt-based controls or a virtual trackball, as per our mock-up above. How about it, Atari?

UPDATE: iPhone gaming website Slide to Play reports that a tilt-controlled Marble Madnessis due on the App Store “in the next couple of weeks” and will include bonus tracks, content and modes. No trackball, alas.

One of the things that I never liked about my iPod and the iPhone was that you always had to carry that Apple charge and sync cable with you. I would like to be able to take a plain USB cable with me that would allow me to charge several of my gadgets with one cable.

A new device called the PocketDock from SendStation has been announced that allows you to charge with a normal mini USB cable and connect the iPod to your home stereo. The device plugs into the charge port of your iPod and offers a 3.5mm output and a mini USB plug.

The PocketDock is Made for iPod certified and has a 30-pin docking connector. The device is about the size of the iPhone charger at 7mm x 25.5mm and weighs only 4 grams. You can pick one up now for $29.95.

SendStation is iPod certified. On iPhone you get the Standard acessory warning, Just click no, and it works just fine. I get this almost every time I plug in.

“Despite Apple’s claims to the contrary, a test by a forum member at Weiphone suggests the iPhone 3GS may already have enough performance to smoothly play full HD video.

By manually copying over videos using file transfer apps on a computer and the iPhone, the community member says he could play up to a 1080p (1920×1080) clip at 30 frames per second at up to a 35Mbps without any lag or stuttering. Although they don’t show in the official iPod app, they work using Apple’s built-in video player when called by a third-party program.”

Yes, Marble Madness is coming to the iPhone.

Marble Madness was first published by Atari Games in 1984 and is the original ball rolling game that has always seemed to be a natural fit for the iPhone. The original game included 6 maze-like levels that you must complete before time runs out. Various objects and enemies stand in your way.

Over the years, Marble Madness has been ported to a variety of platforms, and at E3 we were able to spend some time with the iPhone version. Mobile developer Handheld Games has been working with Midway to bring Marble Madness to the App Store. This version of the game includes the 6 original levels along with some modernized tweaks and new look, but also contains a “Classic” mode that allows you to relive the old days.

Additional gameplay modes include: Targets Race, Size Race, Flag Race and Night Race. The various modes introduce a variety of secondary goals (roll over Targets, slalom between Flags) or new challenges (different Size balls, or Night mode with limited visibility) on top of the original levels.

We aren’t allowed to provide you any screenshots or video of the game just yet, but will do so as soon as we are given permission. Handheld Games also showed us a couple of their own games including Batting 1000 and Lock ‘n Load which we will feature in another article.

Brian Eno is a genius and unparalleled figure of all time! Listening to Ambient 2, the Plateaux of Mirror, this is the good stuff, music for your body mind and soul.

“Do you know what I hate about computers? The problem with computers is that there is not enough Africa in them.”?- Brian Eno, May 1995

This quotation is from an article in Wired Magazine, I have never forgotten it.

“What’s pissing me off is that it uses so little of my body. You’re just sitting there, and it’s quite boring. You’ve got this stupid little mouse that requires one hand, and your eyes. That’s it. What about the rest of you? No African would stand for a computer like that. It’s imprisoning.” ?…still Brian Eno.

Yes. That’s May 1995. More than 10 years ago. And what has happened? The scroll wheel.

PowerMate – USB Multimedia Controller

The scroll wheel is an excellent invention and I can’t think of using a computer without one. Still it’s just you and that mouse. Maybe you keep your other hand at the keyboard.

The Griffin Powermate has a name, a look and a description that suggest that you should use it to adjust the volume on your computer.

It’s incredibly well built, good looking, solid and very useful knob. You can use it to scroll in my browser. To zoom in Photoshop. To shuttle in my video editing software. To scroll in my photo archive. Right hand on the mouse. Left hand switching between the keyboard and the Powermate.

It has completely removed quite a bit of straining your right hand.

There is a very reliable rule that says that a company that makes hardware can never make good software (look at the software that follows ATI’s graphics cards or Creative’s MP3 players etc…*) Griffin has done an exception with the Powermate. The latest version of the software for this device is actually quite useful. And if you don’t like it you always have Girder and the Girder Powermate Plugin.

The Powermate puts a tiny, tiny bit of Africa back into my computer.

* Yes, Apple is an exception