Posts tagged with "tv"

A Beautiful TV Guide For Your iPhone and iPad

I’m thankful for the possibilities offered by today’s technologies, which allow me to ditch the old ways of doing…stuff for more pleasant, rich, interactive and beautiful experiences. Apple’s devices and apps in the App Store surely played a great role in this digital revolution: we don’t buy specific items anymore because there’s an app for that. The last time you bought a radio player? An actual map? A point & shoot camera? Exactly.

Still, there was no “last time” for me when it comes to TV guides. I never bought those magazines that offered monthly and weekly views and summaries of what would be in television – I  just checked TV programming on the internet. Or on my local newspaper. But now I’m ready to step my game up, with an app simply called “TV” and available at .99 cents in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. It’s uncluttered, beautiful, elegant and, finally, it’s something that deeply integrates a TV guide with the information coming from the internet. Read more

The Incident 1.3 Goes Live. Finally, An iPhone Game I Can Play On My TV.

We love The Incident for iPhone and iPad. In fact, Big Bucket’s retro-style platform is easily one of my favorite iOS games of all times. It features incredible pixel graphics, an addictive gameplay and a catchy soundtrack. If you read MS, you know we’re totally into The Incident.

A few weeks ago we reported the developers were working on an update to let users play The Incident on their TVs while controlling it with an iPhone. Sounded like magic back then. It turns out, all you need is a VGA Adapter or Composite AV Cable to mirror the game on your TV and start jumping with Frank, the main character. That’s it. No complex pairing process – although we’re already thinking about a future AirPlay feature to beam games from your iOS device to your TV.

This feature of The Incident 1.3 is something we’ll remember in the months to come. It marks the arrival of iOS as a gaming platform on our living rooms, and we’re sure other developers will implement it in several other games. We’re waiting.

In the meantime, The Incident 1.3 is available here and it rocks. Strongly recommended.

BBC: Subscription-based iPlayer for iPad Coming Next Year

According to the Financial Times (subscription required), BBC will launch a subscription-based iPlayer service for iPads next year. iPlayer is BBC’s popular streaming service that allows users to stream programs after the original air date, and it gained support for Mac in 2008.

It also gained a lot of traction since then, with downloads exceeding 100 millions in the first months of 2010. Unfortunately, the service isn’t available in many areas – namely outside the UK. For instance, I can’t access iPlayer’s TV streaming in Italy, and I assume the same happens to US users.

It looks like things won’t change with the iPad subscription either, as Dave Caolo at TUAW reports:

BBC Worldwide said that this isn’t going to happen until “the middle of next year,” and even then only in “certain target markets.” Additionally, no word on pricing was available, though there will be ad-supported free sections as well as paid content.

In the meantime, I’m just fine with Hulu through a US-based VPN.

The Incident for iPad Is Coming To Your TV, With iPhone As A Controller [Update: Video]

We are big fans of The Incident by Big Bucket Software. Developed by Panic’s Neven Mrgan and Matt Comi, The Incident is a simple and addictive 16-bit styled game where you control a man named Frank who has to constantly jump and avoid obstacles falling from the sky. From our review:

As Frank, you’ll be climbing your way above and beyond mountains of just about anything that might fall from the sky. Couches, minivans, and propeller blades attempt to crush you under their fantastic weight; even with a little pushing and shoving, you’ll have quite the challenge in avoiding dangers from above and below.

Now, after a 1.2 update that brought game controlling from the iPhone, The Incident 1.3 will come to a TV near you. That’s right: you’ll be able to play an iOS game on your television (just like we always used to, remember?) using the iPhone as a remote controller. No technical details have been provided by the developers yet, except that all you need to get the thing up and running is “pluggin your iPad into the TV”. I guess it’s a standard VGA cable from Apple, anyway. Read more

The Woz on Big Bang Theory [Video]

What’s better than Big Bang Theory, Apple II file system jokes and Steve Wozniak to end just another boring work day? I’m telling you: nothing. No, not even that unreleased 11-inch MacBook Air polished with unicorn tears you got from some creepy Chinese dude can beat this.

So jump after the break, and enjoy a rough clip of today’s Steve Wozniak appearance at CBS’s Big Bang Theory, courtesy of MacRumors. Read more