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The key to ensuring our computing future is a pleasant one is based on interoperability and cooperation between varying platforms and products. But, rather than come together (right now), it seems that companies are intent on further fragmenting our digital existence. Facebook is battling Google, Google is at war with Apple and everyone is throwing rocks at the throne of Microsoft. So you'd think that alliances, no matter how uneasy, would be something to cherish and preserve. Which makes Apple's foray in to the social networking sphere that much more perplexing.

With Facebook and Apple sharing a common foe in Google's social networking, browser-building empire, it makes little sense for the makers of the Mac to step on the toes of the enemy of its enemy (i.e. its friend). It would have been simpler, and probably more cost effective, for Apple to simply piggyback off of Facebook and build a music service on top of the existing social empire. Instead, it made Ping as a standalone service. Ping may not pose a direct challenge to Facbeook, but Jobs made no effort to hide his displeasure with the reigning social networking king, calling the company's terms "onerous" in discussions with reporters following Wednesday's press event.

Continue reading Apple and Facebook Tangle Over Ping

Apple and Facebook Tangle Over Ping originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Terrence O'Brien

After Google inadvertently gathered personal information from its Street View cars and rendered Gmail addresses more visible with the ill-conceived launch of Google Buzz, the company soon found itself under fire from governments and consumer advocacy groups. Few critics, however, have been as vocal as Consumer Watchdog, which has now placed an enormous anti-Google ad in the middle of Times Square.

As Fast Company explains, the 540-square-foot Jumbotron stunt features a stylized cartoon of Google CEO Eric Schmidt handing out ice cream to children, in exchange for their private information. Titled 'Don't be Evil?' (an obvious reference to Google's well-known motto), the clip portrays Schmidt as a quasi-pedophilic ice cream truck driver who doles out frozen treats to kids, while quietly collecting their personal data. The massive satire was put together as part of a Consumer Watchdog project called 'Inside Google,' in the hopes of raising consumer awareness about what the organization calls Schmidt's complete "lack of regard for our privacy."

Continue reading Consumer Watchdog Plants Gargantuan Anti-Google Ad in Times Square

Consumer Watchdog Plants Gargantuan Anti-Google Ad in Times Square originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amar Toor

Here's a cool new feature in iTunes 10 that we haven't mentioned yet: when listening to any song in your library, you can double click on the album art window in the lower left hand corner to detach it from the main window and see it full size. That's not new -- you could get a closer look at the art in previous versions of iTunes. But what is new is that when you mouse over that detached art, you now get full QuickTime-style controls for your tracks. You can then minimize the main window (using those weirdly-aligned buttons, of course), and then just control the music directly from that square widget (which can also be resized any way you want).

Pretty neat, and somewhat hard to find if you don't usually zoom in to see your album art full size. This replicates some (not all) of the functionality provided by CoverSutra and a number of other "iTunes controllers," so it looks like Apple has (yet again) decided to make a popular function in third-party apps part of the official thing.

TUAWiTunes 101: Using the Album Art widget originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsMike Schramm013669671769374176551463860404929194278105681641181920659455071393266093530410391397457176708228107117868149522201465172

You may not want to be seen rocking one of these at your next gig, but if you've been trying to juggle your phone and guitar while using some of the endless number of apps out there, you might just want to consider this so-called Guitar Sidekick from Castiv. As you can see, there's not a whole lot to it -- just a bracket that attaches to the neck of your guitar, and an adjustable mechanism that will accommodate just about any smartphone (or even a PSP). No word on an iPad version just yet, but you can grab this one right now for $30.

Guitar Sidekick brings your phone to your guitar, while your guitar gently weeps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Castiv  | Email this | CommentsDonald Melanson13371588163619768448182580710090558526241564508670813886567311317536383894858024106951538611909515850523772606489099499112635965042132673380

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is going to sell well. It won’t be a blockbuster like the iPad, but it should still do alright mainly because it’s the first consumer-worthy Android tablet. Samsung can even price the tablet well north of the iPad’s $500 starting price. It will not matter. People will buy it even if it’s, I don’t know, $800. You might not, but there are enough Android fanboys that will.

Rumors have popped up over the last 24 hours about the Tab’s price. Some European retailer’s pricing has leaked out although Samsung is saying it’s all speculative because the official pricing hasn’t been announced just yet. But still, it makes you think. The pricing ranges from €699 ($890) to €799 ($1,020) for the 16GB and 32GB respectively. Remember, the Galaxy Tab comes with a 3G modem and there likely will not be a WiFi-only model because Google requires cellular capability for the Android Market. But for a quick minute, forget that the iPad offers a bigger screen and twice the storage for the same price. It doesn’t matter.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is something special. It might not be special enough to be called an iPad-killer, but seems to be everything we want in an Android tablet. It’s sexy, powerful, and versatile. In fact, it makes me hopefully that Android tablets have a chance to sneak some marketshare away from the iPad. It’s that nice and why Samsung can pretty much price it however the company wants. But the pricing will write the Tab’s future.

The iPad was an instant hit because of its near-impulse $500 price. Of course Samsung will move more Tabs if the price is lower, but more importantly, a higher price will push the tablet away from the mainstream crowd and into a niche market. That’s probably fine for the Tab itself as there are no doubt enough rabid Android fanboys that have waited for a proper tablet to make it ultimately successful, but the niche market isn’t where Android tablets deserve to be.

Android is finally becoming a proper mobile OS. I still feel it’s more “work” living with an Android phone than an iPhone or BlackBerry device, but the shear capabilities are being refined and better packaged as manufacturers learn the system. Eventually Android will be superior to even iOS, but consumers are fickle and for better or worse, it’s up to the Tab to show the world that an Android tablet can work.

Samsung’s been quiet about the Tab’s and launch details, but it seems that the Tab will get a world-wide launch. It’s being showcased at IFA in Europe and Samsung is a major force in Asia. Even here in the states there’s been rumors that it will launch sometime soon on CDMA carries of Verizon and Sprint. No doubt the Tab will be available for direct purchase in Europe and Asia just like most cell phones, while it seems as if it will be available via carrier subsidies in the US. It just feels as if Samsung is prepping for a multi-market launch, which is a bit different from the iPad’s slow roll-out and probably possible because of the Tab’s lower sales estimates.

Let’s not forget Samsung knows what it’s doing. High or low, the Galaxy Tab will probably be priced right. Now, this price might not be right per your expectations, but rather the bean counters at Samsung who know a little more about these things than us.

While Sony's new Bloggie Touch provides the template for how simple and easy a touchscreen camcorder could really be, Kodak's similarly well built and attractive PlayTouch provides a stark contrast, with a modicum of simplicity on the surface, but a megaton of functionality to uncover. The PlayTouch isn't as pick-up-and go as the Bloggie, but the basic touchscreen controls can be quickly mastered. What sets the PlayTouch apart are the in-depth features like an external microphone jack (complete with gain control), video effects (like black & white and sepia modes), and the particularly ambitious video editor. You can only trim shots and extract stills from that latter mode, but paired with the newer generation EasyShare functionality that lets you pre-assign photos and videos for upload to YouTube and Facebook, among other services, you can almost completely avoid using your computer as anything but a dumb pipe to the internet.

The PlayTouch really isn't a "gift it to your grandma" sort of camcorder; even with a $230 pricetag you still have to bring your own SD card, there's no built-in storage, and most of the higher end functionalities like the external audio jack will be lost on the general populace. Still, if you're looking for a pocket camcorder that is more than just a dumb pocket camcorder, Kodak seems to be continuing the niche it carved out for itself originally with the Zi8.

Gallery: Kodak PlayTouch preview

Kodak PlayTouch preview originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | CommentsPaul Miller0811669693924057761202308827960459694717

Highlights from this morning's big tech headlines...

• The new Skype 5.0 beta for Windows introduces 10-way video calling, for awkward and impromptu digital family reunions. [From: Engadget]
• A new study reveals that adults are finally catching on to this whole texting thing, with over 72-percent reporting that they're texting daily. [From: Pew Internet & American Life Project]
• Following reports of computers overheating and minor burn injuries, Toshiba is recalling 41,000 of its T Series laptops. [From: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission]
• Gmail may be great for keeping spam out of your inbox, but Google's New York offices have been hit by the city's bedbug epidemic. [From: Valleywag]
• Here's yet another problem with the new iTunes 10: Apple removed the ability to create ringtones from songs you've purchased from the iTunes store. Fortunately, the ol' file-rename trick still works. [From: MacLife]

Skype 5.0 Beta Adds 10-Way Video Calling, Adult Texting on the Rise originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thomas Houston

It's no good buying an eCoupled inductive charger if it won't work with your Powermat, or your Touchstone. Non-standard chargers suck, so we're glad to see that the Global Qi wireless power standard has been released, and the first products have been announced. A number of companies, Nokia and RIM to name but a few, have signed on their support, with Energizer stepping up first with the Energizer Inductive Charger. When it releases this fall it will initially work with charging sleeves for the iPhone 3G/S and BlackBerry Curve 8900, but we presume others will be coming. More promising is Sanyo, which is designing battery packs "without making any change in designs and aspects of existing mobile devices." In other words: they'll look and act like a normal battery pack, but also be able to be charged wirelessly. Beware, ubiquitous micro-USB charger: your days are numbered.

Continue reading Global Qi wireless power standard released, Energizer and Sanyo announce products

Global Qi wireless power standard released, Energizer and Sanyo announce products originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | CommentsTim Stevens17051128227097507700040645459452552434401389598861539188291602308827960459694717041977528613555117151397457176708228107109422301044102329515112352173732912422900185413966233151515818120468709065437730

As soon as the official Twitter app for iPad (free) hit the App Store, you could tell that it was going to be a controversial app. Immediately, the twitterverse was filled with people either commenting on how much they loved the innovative and unique user interface, and others ranting about how much they despised the UI. One of our bloggers said that she enjoyed the new features of Twitter for iPad so much that she "wanted to have a cigarette after I was done, and I don't even smoke." On the other hand, TJ Luoma reported in his first look at the Twitter app that "... judging by most of the comments of people that I follow on Twitter, the initial reaction is definitely one of 'too busy' and 'over designed.' "

Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I have been a fan of Twittelator for iPad ($4.99) since it appeared in the App Store, so I wasn't expecting that Twitter would make an impact on my tweeting. Wrong. After a few hours of using the free Twitter app on my iPad, I'm pretty well smitten with it. The rest of this post describes how the Twitter app works to let you do more tweeting and less fumbling around trying to figure out how to do something. Be sure to take a look at the gallery below for screenshots of Twitter for iPad in action.

Gallery: Twitter for iPad

TUAWTUAW Review: Twitter for iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSteven Sande1517202896538557572014043199272923821589

Silicon oxide has long played the sidekick, insulating electronics from damage, but scientists at Rice University have just discovered the dielectric material itself could become a fantastic form of storage. Replacing the 10-nanometer-thick strips of graphite used in previous experiments with a layer of SiOx, graduate student Jun Yao discovered the latter material worked just as well, creating 5nm silicon nanowires that can be easily joined or broken (to form the bits and bytes of computer storage) when a voltage is temporarily applied. Considering that conventional computer memory pathways are still struggling to get to 20nm wide, this could make for quite the advance in storage, though we'll admit we've heard tell of one prototype 8nm NAND flash chip that uses nanowires already. Perhaps it's time for silicon oxide to have a turn in the limelight.

Silicon oxide forms solid state memory pathways just five nanometers wide originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Popular Science  |  Rice University  | Email this | CommentsSean Hollister04064545945255243440147044598956134505891310258822581484025201194856576819327635155253228809728543711825807100905585262402308827960459694717122449880704487975731663786280975131587604197752861355511715051311567800893590100809829468198158501603029459348182008272150462762780702450271263596504213267338002992816588622865930082486257248018349570987445550038794733418120468709065437730

For reasons unknown, Tokyo-based accessory maker Thanko keeps churning out “spy” gadgets. This time we get a watch [JP] that looks quite bland from the outside but features a micro camera that can shoot both pictures and video. Another selling point is that it’s Thanko’s first spy watch that’s waterproof (IPX8 certification) – isn’t that great?

Videos can be recorded in 640×480 resolution at 30fps, while the watch shoots JPEGs in up to 1,600×1,200 resolution. Other features include 4GB of internal memory, a USB port, and compatibility to computers with Windows XP / Vista / 7 / Mac OS 10.5 on board.

The watch, which weighs 86g, can be ordered over at Geek Stuff 4 U for $158.95.

Here’s a video that was shot with it:

Maybe we're a bunch of idiots, but while the Flip and its ultra-simple camcorder ilk have certainly made shooting video simpler and more accessible for the masses, we still find many of these cameras surprisingly unintuitive or just "blah" at doing what they do (Kodak's otherwise excellent Zi8 and PlaySport cameras come to mind) when it comes to UI. After playing with the horrendous Flip Slide HD, we were almost sure touchscreens would act as another obstacle to using these things, but of all people, Sony has come to the rescue. We found the original Bloggie line very unimpressive, but this new Bloggie Touch crop is exactly as easy to use as you'd imagine a one button device would be.

That big record button on the front? You press it, and it records stuff. The responsive touchscreen UI takes care of secondary issues, like playing back that stuff you recorded, swapping resolution (it shoots at up to 1080p), setting a timer, and more detailed settings, with four well placed icons, while a touch slider operates the digital zoom. If you hold the camera like a still camera and tap the camera shutter button now naturally placed on the top you can take 12.8 megapixel stills (okay, we lied, there are two buttons, three if you count the on / off button). Despite the slim, sexy design of the camera, Sony still worked in a pop-out USB plug and a full sized HDMI jack. Even the $180 / $200 price (for 4GB or 8GB of storage) is surprisingly good. Just a reminder, in case you'd forgotten: the Bloggie Touch is built by Sony. We'll be looking forward to its October launch.

Gallery: Sony Bloggie Touch preview

Sony Bloggie Touch preview: an actually simple 'simple camcorder' originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | CommentsPaul Miller12519810350803836547023088279604596947171829503893636291779712147899042657588270

A San Antonio man could become the first Texan prosecuted under a new state law protecting people against online harassment. According to The San Antonio Express-News, Mike Lavender, a former sports announcer, was recently charged with one count of online harassment for using a fake Twitter account to bother a 33-year-old reporter. He alleged via Twitter that the unnamed woman was having an affair with a married man and called her a "homewrecker," among other things. The woman told local authorities, who subpoenaed the Twitter account's IP address, which led them to Lavender's computer. The woman only wants a public apology, but if prosecuted, Lavender could face a year in jail and a $4,000 fine for his crime.

However, history might be on his side. In October 2009 and January 2010, online harassment cases in Texas were dismissed after not meeting certain elements of the state's law. Adriana Biggs, who works in the district attorney's office, told the Express-News that Lavender's case might go to grand jury but she could not confirm it. Expect the ball to keep rolling. After all, Texans aren't ones to shy away from bringing their brand of justice to the Internet.

Tweeting Texan First to Be Charged With Web Harassment Under New Law originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Caleb Johnson

The problem with the future is that it's always 3 to 5 years away. Nevertheless, what you're looking at is what Philips and Dimenco, a small company of ex-Philips engineers, say will be coming to the consumer television market as early as 2013 -- earlier if you're in the professional advertising business or just want to view your family photos on a small 3D photo frame. Just remember that Philips has been showing off variations of the glasses-free technology behind this prototype lenticular lens television for years, so we're not getting our hopes up. Nevertheless, Dimenco assured us that the path to the consumer market for its 3D display is clear.

So how did it look? Well, it was ok, we guess. It doesn't have that in-your-face pop of the current generation of 3D televisions that require 3D glasses. The effect is more subtle (or maybe the content was). Our biggest problem was with the sharpness of the display. Although the 56-inch prototype CCFL LCD was 4k (that's 4 times the resolution of your Full HD TV) the image we saw was coarse in appearance due to the lenticular lens required to refract the left and right images for each eye. Having said that, the lenticular lens technology used is certainly better suited for non-stationary viewing. While the border around objects on the screen tended to shift quickly and blur (see the video after the break) when looking at the panel frombetween any of its 15 viewing angles (spread across a 120-degree arc), at least it didn't exhibit those horrible dark vertical bands seen when changing your angle even slightly while viewing 3D panels based on the parallax barrier method of glasses-less 3D. Still, it was hard to find the viewing sweet spot and honestly, given the option to sit in front of this display and a 4k panel "limited" to 2D, we'd have to opt for the latter. Get back to us in 3 to 5 and see if we feel the same.

Continue reading Philips Dimenco glasses-less 3D TV of the future, hopefully our future

Philips Dimenco glasses-less 3D TV of the future, hopefully our future originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | CommentsThomas Ricker003636474794705194340230882796045969471705040797288003679544084085376826730504321263596504213267338004052453255995338447

It’s a fact that some PC games are better played on a gamepad rather than with a mouse and keyboard. Sure, there aren’t many, but sports and racing games come to mind. That’s why Logitech just released three DualShock-ish gamepads. The $24.99 Logitech Gamepad F310 brings all the basic functions with a familiar control scheme, while the $34.99 Gamepad F510 adds rumble to the mix. The $49.99 Gamepad F710 sports all the goodies of the other two models, but does it all wirelessly. So there you have it, three gamepads just in time for some Madden 11 action.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is shaping up to be the device of IFA 2010, and while we spent some hands-on time – complete with video – with the Froyo slate right after the launch yesterday, we thought we’d head back today to see if our positive first impressions held true.  After the cut, more hands-on video and pictures of the Galaxy Tab, plus details on launch plans, Samsung’s intentions for future tablets, and more!

Second time round, the Tab proved equally appealing.  It’s well-sized for the hand, and, unlike the iPad, you can actually slot it into an inside jacket pocket without tearing the seams.  Side by side with the Galaxy S, and the Tab’s LCD panel does a decent job holding its own against Super AMOLED.  Although 4-inches versus 7-inches doesn’t sound a vast difference, as you can see in our comparison photos it’s actually a considerably increase in screen real-estate.

That’s allowed Samsung some extra flexibility in their custom software, with the email app – that supports multiple accounts, including POP, IMAP and Exchange among others – offering a two-column view in landscape orientation that’s similar to the iPad.  You can pick from a unified inbox or separate views by account, and you can adjust the split between the two columns to resize as preferred.  The calendar app, too, pulls in appointments from multiple accounts, all color coded, including Facebook dates and others.

Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on:

For multimedia, meanwhile, Samsung has partnered with 7digital to offer on-device DRM-free audio files.  That can obviously be mixed with side-loaded content.  7digital doesn’t offer video, but you can view content via Samsung’s AllShare streamed over wireless connections.  Thanks to the HDMI dock you can output 1080p Full HD video to your HDTV, complete with 5.1-channel surround sound, and there’s also Samsung’s free “QWERTY Remote Control” app for operating their IP-connected TVs.

While Samsung has ticked all the boxes for Android Market inclusion, of course most current apps aren’t scaled appropriately for the slate’s 1024 x 600 display.  To accommodate that, the company has built in some clever app-resizing that stretches standard software (say, designed for WVGA smartphones).  While you might expect apps to look blocky, the end result is actually pretty impressive; we’d say it looks better than, say, iPhone apps running on the iPad, and it’s all done automatically and supports screen rotation (if the app itself does).

In terms of accessories, Samsung will be of course offering the HDMI Dock we spotted yesterday, together with a regular desk dock and a keyboard dock for those wanting to enter large amounts of text.  A stylus suited to capacitive touchscreens will also be on offer.  They also confirmed the unusual Bluetooth stylus spotted last week; it turns out that the stylus works as a Bluetooth handset – a pen-sized Moshi Moshi, as it were – which can be kept in your shirt or jacket pocket and then used as a hands-free kit when calls come in.

Despite the rumors and speculation seen online, Samsung told us that the Galaxy Tab’s price has still not been finalized.  That’s because they’re still in talks with carriers, negotiating subsidies and data packages.  The Galaxy Tab will actually launch in Italy first, later in September, shortly followed by the UK before the end of the month (we’ve heard Vodafone are the likely carrier, though obviously Samsung wouldn’t confirm that).  The expectation is that broader availability – including the US – will happen in October 2010, with Samsung preparing multiple versions of the Galaxy Tab for different US carriers, just as they have done with the Galaxy S smartphone.

Samsung told us that the Galaxy Tab is, unsurprisingly, just the first in what they see as an expanding range of tablets that will launch throughout 2011.  That range will include larger and smaller versions – the company wouldn’t tell us which is coming next, though we wouldn’t be surprised to see a bigger-screen Tab intended to directly challenge the iPad and potentially running Android 3.0 Gingerbread or 3.5 Honeycomb –  as well as models that target different sub-segments.  This first Galaxy Tab, for instance, has a 3-megapixel camera, partly because of size restraints but also, we were told, because the model is intended predominantly for media consumption and browsing, rather than content creation.  Future Tab slates could approach things differently.

Samsung is also working closely with Google on Android development, with regular “high level meetings” and plenty of shared code.  That bodes well for how much work they – and indeed other tablet manufacturers – may have to do to finesse Android for larger-screen devices, reducing the amount of customisation and thus helping cut down on OS upgrade delays.  The company couldn’t say, though, whether developers would have access to their own particular customized apps on the Galaxy Tab, such as the new calendar app, but they will be able to easily produce their own software suited to the 1024 x 600 display.

Head over here for our first Samsung Galaxy Tab report, including more video!

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• Samsung Galaxy Tab gets officially teased [Video]
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• Samsung Galaxy Q QWERTY Android phone due in US by end of 2010
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Chris Davies

Players of a Japanese dating sim went so far as to take their virtual girlfriends on vacation this summer. Are digital girlfriends good social training or a bad idea?Matt Hickey

We still have memories -- some would say nightmares, but we digress -- of hanging out at a neighbor's house and taking turns playing matches of Mario's Tennis, our biological ocular displays assimilated into a rubber mask that engulfed our brains and left us in a permanent state of viewing the world in red wireframe. Crude 3D though it may be, it's still a part of history we must accept, and if you happen to own a Virtual Boy, we have just two things to say to you. One: we're insanely jealous. Two: if you ever need to know how to rip it to shreds for repair / stress relief, iFixit's got you covered. In the world of Man with Screwdriver vs. Game Console, yet again Man wins. Seems a perfect ending to a week that featured Atari 2600, Nintendo Famicon, RCA Studio II, and Magnavox Odyssey 100. Check out highlights in the gallery below, or hit up iFixit for the whole shebang.

Gallery: Highlights from iFixit's Virtual Boy teardown

iFixit celebrates Friday with teardown of Virtual Boy, the greatest game console man has ever known originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  iFixit  | Email this | CommentsRoss Miller12519810350803836547179268895543501756030119485657681932763513117317189664432656022159587925770663541583844456432032448208295691927823617700050407972880036795441296022178546098638808408537682673050432021543376127249943590882448059387165551408641976253430997655035338244868532641821812046870906543773011690942701061069311

Usually, we like to use this space to highlight developers and apps that could use a little more exposure, not call out big-budget titles from developers like Electronic Arts. But this one's worth it -- Mirror's Edge is a pretty terrific, completely original translation of the plaforming game that arrived on consoles last year. It was out on the iPad at launch earlier this year, and now the game has made its way to the iPhone, bringing Retina Display graphics and the same well done gameplay.

Out of all of the "major" game publishers, EA has shown Apple quite a bit of love in the past, and this is probably the company's best original (in mechanics, if not actually name or premise) title for the iOS platform. It's a real shame that it took so long for this one to make it around to the handheld, but now that it's here, it is worth the $4.99 purchase price for those looking for a premium iPhone experience.

And heck, if that's too much, just be patient another eight months or so and you'll probably see the game on sale. If you're interested in this gameplay at all -- basically a complicated Canabalt, with heroine Faith running, sliding and shooting her way across rooftops -- definitely give it a look.

TUAWTUAW's Daily App: Mirror's Edge originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsMike Schramm

A month after shuttering Google Wave, the company has announced that it will be fleshing out the Google Wave code to turn the current example Web server and client into a complete application called Wave in a Box. Although Wave in a Box won't have the full functionality of Google Wave, it will be made available as open source, and Google's hope is that a vibrant developer community will help Wave move forward and fulfill its initial promise. We're not holding our collective breath, but it could happen.

 

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