About Iphone

The summer App Store sales just keep on coming, and ngmoco has decided to get in on action by placing their extremely popular 2009 Apple Design Award winning game, Topple 2, on sale for a limited time.

If you enjoyed the original Topple, you will absolutely adore Topple 2. The game features the same basic concept and fantastic controls, but it adds all kinds of new elements.

The basic idea of the game is to stack your tower as high as you can without it “toppling,” which is easier said than done because some pieces just don’t quite fit together. Topple 2, like the original Topple, utilizes the iPhone’s accelerometer, so you can tilt your device from side to side to try and keep your tower from tipping too far.

Topple 2 features 30 levels spread across six worlds, new game mechanics, versus mode using Wi-Fi or email, and the ability to free play all of the game modes.

Topple 2 is now on sale for a limited time for only $.99. The regular price is $2.99.

In less than a week after the iPhone 3GS launched, the iPhone Dev-Team believes that they already have a way to jailbreak the brand new device.

The Dev-Team is reporting that the 24Kpwn exploit that was originally developed for the second generation iPod touch may work on the iPhone 3GS as well.

About 5 hours ago (Thursday evening, less than a week after the 3GS launch), we were able to verify that the 24Kpwn exploit that the hybrid team used on the iPod Touch 2G is still applicable to the bootrom of the iPhone 3GS. That means we can use the same sort of technique used by our current redsn0w tool to jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 3GS.

This is great news, but how did it happen? Why didn’t Apple fix this in their normal cat&mouse fashion? Well it seems this bootrom was cut in about the August 2008 timeframe, so the unintended early reveal of 24Kpwn earlier this year didn’t affect the iPhone 3GS.

Apparently once the jailbreak is ready to go, ultrasn0w will work with the iPhone 3GS as well, which is great news for all of you unlockers.

The Dev-Team does make it clear, however, that Apple hasn’t given up on their cat and mouse game. They state that even though the bootrom is exploitable via 24Kpwn, there are other aspects of the jailbreak that will take some time to work into their current tools. Because of this, they have no time table for when the iPhone 3GS jailbreak will be available.

Apparently nudity isn’t allowed in the App Store after all. Yesterday Hottest Girls became the first ever app in the App Store to display nudity. Shortly after this news spread across the web, the app was hastily removed from the App Store. The story doesn’t end there, however. The developer of Hottest Girls claimed that he had to personally remove the app due to it being “sold out,” which basically meant that his servers had caved from all of the traffic. As it turns out, you can’t trust a developer who makes apps that display nudity.

According to TechCrunch, Apple PR has told CNN that the app was removed by Apple and that they will not distribute “porn” or any other inappropriate content:

“Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.”

So this makes sense, at least in a way, because Apple’s stance on inappropriate content has never changed, even with the new parental controls. They still state that “porn” will not be allowed in the App Store. The thing is, some people may not consider general nudity as porn. It also seems odd that Apple has actually included nudity in their rating system, so it’s almost as if they don’t even consider nudity porn either.

The developer was obviously at fault here because of the way he went about adding the content to his app. Apple didn’t actually approve of any of it, it was just slipped in. The statement by the developer that was placed on his website yesterday is gone as well, with the website only displaying contact information. It seems he is guilty as charged.

What we can take from all of this is that nudity, porn, inappropriate content, or whatever you want to call it is still not officially allowed in the App Store even with the parental controls and app ratings.

The App Store game sales continue! First it was Gameloft, then it was ngmoco, and now it is Chillingo who is slashing the price of their unique castle defense game, Knights Onrush.

Knights Onrush brings Pocket God-like interactivity to the castle defense genre. Knights Onrush allows you to interact with your oncoming enemies in ways you never imagined. You can flick them into the air, smash them into the ground, blow them up, freeze them, and even feed them to a dragon. The game also features tons of content, including 12 castles to defend, 11 types of enemies, endless siege and madness modes, and an online chat and leader board system.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, we have a full review of Knights Onrush available on our site.

Knights Onrush is normally priced at $4.99, but it is now on sale for only $.99. The sale will last for 36 hours, so don’t wait too long or you will miss out.

Developers are allowed to submit bug reports and feedback to Apple, but the problem with the current system is that it is opaque. The system doesn’t allow people to see if they are the only ones having a certain problem, or if others feel the same way about a certain silly rule that Apple has in place. That’s why Dan Grigsby has decided to start the Unofficial iPhone SDK Feedback Project. It is designed to help the iPhone community speak out about their issues and add “gravity” to them.

The logic behind the project is this: If there are enough people with the same issue speaking out together, there is no way Apple can avoid the subject.

Grigsby has set up a website to allow the community to vote on issues that they feel are important. The website lists all kinds of different issues from anyone and everyone who wants to submit them. The issues are then voted on by the community, and the ones with the most votes keep moving up to the top. This system, according to Grigsby, should accurately indicate what is on everyone’s mind. The catch is that people will only be given a limited number of votes, forcing them to make choices on the issues that they feel are most important.

Of course without votes and people submitting ideas, the system will not work. They need as many people as they can get, so at least give it a look.

If you would like to know more about why Grigsby started this project, you can check out his blog. He will also be highlighting new and interesting feedback activity on his blog.

The iPhone 3GS is the only Apple device that sports a magnetometer, which is basically a fancy word for digital compass. Apple already ships the iPhone 3GS with a Compass app, but it is pretty basic and straight forward. Thanks to all of those hardworking iPhone developers out there, we are now finally starting to see some iPhone 3GS specific apps that take advantage of this feature in more unique ways.

A new app called Magnetism uses the magnetometer to detect magnetic fields. It is able to do simple tasks, like detect metal objects behind walls, or you can use it to see your friends influence on the Earth’s magnetic fields. It is also able to keep track of all of this data on an easy to read graph.

A+ Voice Compass is another interesting iPhone 3GS specific app. As the title states, it is compass app that tells you your orientation via voice. Simply launch the app and start moving, every time you change your heading it will notify you so you will never have to actually look at the app.

These are just two early examples of what the App Store has to offer, but of course there will be many others. We also stumbled upon some other basic compass apps like ezCompass, but they don’t seem to offer anything extra outside of what the built-in Compass app has to offer.

If you find any other worthy magnetometer apps out there, feel free to leave a comment below, because there is no doubt there will be many more to come.

Mass Effect Galaxy was only released on June 22, but apparently EA must have felt that $4.99 was just asking too much because they have already dropped the price of the game to $2.99.

Mass Effect Galaxy puts you in the shoes of Jacob Taylor, a biotic-powered super-soldier who must somehow stop humanity from being knocked off the galactic stage. The game uses a top-down view that allows you to see all of the action with ease. It also features some smooth animated graphics that should appeal to almost any gamer out there. The only downside to the game seems to be its basic control system. You control your character’s movement by tilting your device, but that’s pretty much it. The combat portion of the game is extremely simple. If you are in range of an enemy, your reticule will lock on to the target and automatically start firing.

Mass Effect in general has never been just about the combat, it is more about the story and that’s where the game shines. If you are a fan of the series, this one should help hold you over until Mass Effect 2 is released next year. According to AppGamer.net, there is also a reward that can be unlocked for Mass Effect 2 once you beat Mass Effect Galaxy, but they aren’t sure what it is.

It’s worth noting that we spoke with EA Mobile’s Craig Law about whether this was a temporary sale or a permanent price drop, and the best he could give us was a “guess” that it would be permanent. If you don’t want to risk it, I recommend picking Mass Effect Galaxy up now for only $2.99.

Overview:

Sally’s Spa is a fun, fast-paced, addictive game that provides a great time waster. Sally’s Spa is every girl’s iPhone dream. It allows users to run their own day spa with the touch of their finger. Users move Sally around the spa in order to complete her duties. The first level begins in Laguna Beach, California where you place customers into a series of spa facilities, such as a sauna, facial mask chair and massage chair.

The aim of the game is to keep all customers happy and relaxed so they will tip you more. Each customer has a series of hearts that display how happy they are, if you leave them too long or give them the wrong facial, you lose a heart. If you give them everything they need in a timely manner, they will leave glowing (literally).

The app has 5 stages within each city. When the 5 stages are complete and the spa is establish, you then move onto your next city, New York or Banff. From there the cities expand to Asia, Europe and Iceland. This app is going to provide you with a fun game with enough levels to keep you set on establishing your next spa.

Features:

Within each level, there are five steps toward establishing the spa. As the levels continue, there a lot of them by the way, customers increase in numbers and so do the facilities provided. As customer’s come in they can purchase goods such as shampoo, conditioner and body scrub from Nelly, a young sales associate. Sally’s Spa expands to include bathing spas and manicure/pedicure chairs.

Game Play - The actual playing of the game is simple and effective, with everything on one screen Sally can scoot around the spa and perform her activities with one single touch of the patient. Other than this, Sally must scroll through the different facials, eye brows or bath bombs to choose which makes the customer happy. It’s fast paced, because your trying to please everyone in a timely manner, but its simple, which makes it a great mix. What’s also great about this game is that you can go back and complete levels in order to make more money.

Characters - The characters in the game are introduced to you as the levels begin, for example you have a mother who is tired and needs to relax, but provides only a mediocre tip, but is very patient. You then have the business man who is impatient, but provides a bigger tip. You also have an old couple who must always be moved together. They are also patient, but not very good tippers. Generally the idea is to take care of those who give the biggest tips first.

Shopping Time - The shopping feature of Sally’s Spa is quite likely the most fun part of the game, depending on what stage of the game you are at and how much money you’ve made, you can buy anything from a candle that causes customers to give you more tips, to baths that have only the best water. Sally can even call on extra help by having a sauna assistant, massage assistant, bath assistant and tea assistant. As you purchase more, the more likely customers are to gain hearts and not lose them.

Music - The music in Sally’s Spa is what you would expect if you walked into the spa yourself. It’s calm and tranquil. But, for me who wanted to focus on the game at hand, making money, and not falling asleep, I generally muted it.

Breakdown

Overall, Sally’s Spa is a wonderful, simple game to play to pass the minutes. On iTunes of all the reviews, most of them had great things to say anywhere from “the game every girl needs” to “keeps your finger busily dragging and dropping, poking and popping.” Of those that were negative, they were generally minor details such as having to restart their phones or having to pay $0.99.

Good:

Sally’s Spa does a great job of making a simple game, fast-paced, fun and addictive. With no moving of the screen it’s easy to move Sally around the spa and make the most money you can, and the best thing is if you don’t ‘expert’ the level, you can always go back to do it again. It provides an entertainment level by having different elements of running the spa, shopping, keeping people happy with magazines and going global.

Bad:

Although there’s not many, Sally’s Spa has a few bad points. The hearts that show the customer’s happiness is at times hard to read on the screen. The music isn’t that great and sometimes the repetitiveness of the game gets a little boring. But, really, the good points outweigh the bad.

Verdict:

Buy this game, for $0.99 your getting great value for the money. It’s a fun simple game that just keeps on going with the simple touch of a finger.

• Sally's Spa

• Developer: Games Cafe Inc.
• Category: Games
• Released: April 08, 2009

iPhone 3GS without a space

Even though the lines were short, the iPhone 3GS sold like hot cakes. In the first three days of availability, the speedy device was purchased over one million times! Because of the massive amount of sales, there was a bit of a delay in the activation process and Apple made up for it by issuing $30 iTunes gift cards to those who were affected. YouTube seen the iPhone 3GS affect with a 400% daily increase of mobile video uploads. Oh yeah, by the way, it’s iPhone 3GS, not 3G S. Trust me, it’s important.

Pushing like crazy

iPhone OS 3.0 finally arrived but only with a few push-capable apps, and none of them were chat apps. Apple broke their silence on the matter over the weekend, apologizing to developers and stating that there were a few bugs left to squash. The push-capable chat app floodgates did eventually open with AIM, BeejiveIM, and IM+. One developer, however, felt the need to point out that though the iPod touch is capable of receiving push notifications, it isn’t exactly the most useful feature for the device since it has a 15 minute delay while asleep.

Is nudity porn?

Hottest Girls made App Store history by being the first ever app to display nude images. Not long after this news broke, the app disappeared from the App Store, but the developer claimed it was because their servers just couldn’t take all of the traffic. Apparently you can’t trust developers who release apps with nude images because Apple came forward and said none of that was true, and that the developer had actually slipped the images into the app without permission. So, as it goes, the App Store still doesn’t allow nudity, porn, inappropriate content, or whatever you want to call it.

Dev-Team always wins

The iPhone Dev-Team is slowly getting there. They first released their iPhone OS 3.0 jailbreak, but it wasn’t available for the iPhone 3GS. Later on they released the carrier unlocking tool ultrasn0w, but once again it was unavailable for the iPhone 3GS because it still hasn’t been jailbroken. But don’t fret iPhone 3GS owners, the Dev-Team has discovered that their 24Kpwn exploit that was originally developed for the second generation iPod touch will actually work on the 3GS, so just hang in there a little while longer, your jailbreak is coming.

Get it for cheap

SGN started the week of sales with F.A.S.T., which was marked down over 50%. Gameloft got in the on the action by placing two of its popular titles on sale, Hero of Sparta and Real Soccer ‘09, for only $.99. Chillingo had placed Knights Onrush on sale as well, but only for a limited time. ngmoco’s award winner Topple 2 is on sale for $.99. Mass Effect Galaxy was released earlier in the week for $4.99, but was reduced to $2.99 only days after. AxoStudios made I AM NINJA available for free “until tomorrow,” but apparently tomorrow still hasn’t arrived.

The rest of the news:

• Apps That Require iPhone 3GS Magnetometer Hit App Store
• Unofficial iPhone SDK Feedback Project Begins
• Toki Tori Contest Deadline Extended
• iPhone OS 3.0 Adoption Rate Estimates All Over The Place
• Catapult Nomsters To Defend Your Cake In Must.Eat.Birds
• Apple’s Remote iPhone App Updated, Now Includes Apple TV Control
• BeamME Pro 3.0 Update Adds Peer-To-Peer Beaming, Subscription Service
• Warpack Grunts Tutorial Video
• Tennessee Hospital Confirms Steve Jobs Liver Transplant
• AIM Version 3.0.1 - What’s New
• Getting To Know iPhone 3.0 - Copy And Paste!
• An Elaborate Find My iPhone Story With A Happy Ending
• Stern Claims “Rights Issues” To Blame For Not Being Included In iPhone App
• Vampire Origins First Look Gameplay Video And Screenshots
• New Gameplay Video And Screenshots For Touch KO
• Mass Effect Galaxy Now Available In App Store
• AT&T Navigator Turn-By-Turn App Costs $9.99 A Month
• Steve Jobs Officially Back At Work?
• 1Password, 1Password Pro - What’s The Difference?
• Bring Your iPhone On A Dunkin’ Run
• Sentinel 2: Earth Defense Preview Video And Screenshots
• Video Preview Of NimbleBit’s Upcoming iPhone Game Moon Drop
• WSJ Reports That Steve Jobs Had Liver Transplant

Columns:

• iPhone 3GS: The Gaming Difference
• App Store Insider: The Lyrics Easter Egg Hunt
• Hidden Gems: Overloaded On OS 3.0 News? Check Out These Apps
• How-to Get Free Ringtones (No Jailbreaking Required)

Reviews:

• Sally’s Spa
• F.A.S.T. – Fleet Air Superiority Training
• Castle of Magic
• Blimp - The Flying Adventures
• Harbor Master

Just when you thought you may finally be able to kick your Flight Control addiction, Firemint reaches into their bag of tricks and pulls out yet another reason for you to keep playing one of the most addicting casual games available in the App Store.

Yesterday evening Flight Control was updated to 1.3, which a adds peer-to-peer multiplayer mode via Bluetooth. The new peer-to-peer multiplayer mode allows you to share Flight Control duties with a friend. One of you will only be allowed to land the red aircraft while the other will only be allowed to land blue and yellow, but the catch is that all three colors of aircraft will appear on both of your screens. Since you won’t be able to land all aircraft, you must direct those that you can’t land onto your friend’s screen, which will require you to work well together or you will crash and burn.

Peer-to-peer via Bluetooth is only available on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the second generation iPod touch. The original iPhone and iPod touch do not support peer-to-peer multiplayer via Bluetooth.

Another addition to the game, albeit a small one, is that you can now purchase Flight Control merchandise via the “more” button. The products only consist of various Flight Control beverage containment devices at this time.

Flight Control is available in the App Store for $.99.

If you are about to run out to your local Apple Retail Store to purchase an iPhone 3GS, you may want to check to see if the model you desire is available first, which should be quite easy now that Apple has posted an online iPhone 3GS availability tracker.

The tracker allows you to search for Apple Retail Stores in every state. It will then display which model is available in which store. The list is broken down by capacity and color, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding the exact iPhone 3GS you want.

According to MacRumors, the list is updated hourly. They also state that nearly 90 percent of Apple’s 200 stores have available stock of all four models, and only five stores are completely sold out of all models at this time.

Now go get yourself an iPhone 3GS!

Playing blackjack with your buddies just got a little easier thanks to Blackjack Live. Blackjack Live allows you to play blackjack on your iPhone right alongside your friends, so now you won’t have to physically deal or shuffle any cards, effectively freeing up your all-important beverage hand.

Blackjack Live is the first iPhone blackjack game to feature four player multiplayer via Bluetooth. The game allows to be the dealer by hosting your own game or you can join an existing game to relinquish the role. As the dealer you will be holding your iPhone just like a normal deck of cards and you can swipe your finger across the screen to deal out cards to each player. You are able to see each card as it is being dealt to other players’ iPhones. The game also features a solo mode for you to work on your blackjack skills.

Like all other peer-to-peer apps, Blackjack Live’s multiplayer over Bluetooth will only work on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the second generation iPod touch.

Blackjack Live is available in the App Store for $.99.

Embedded below is a video demonstration of the multiplayer portion of Blackjack Live.

Rolando 2 will be rolling into the App Store on July 1, and to celebrate the release of this highly anticipated platformer, ngmoco is having a $.99 sale on both WordFu and Dr. Awesome. That’s a ton of good news in one sentence.

Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid will feature dozens of new levels, four unique worlds, physics-based puzzles, and a whole bunch of new enemies along with a new 2.5D look that will really set it apart from the original Rolando.

There is some bad news to go along with all of this good news, however. According to TouchArcade, ngmoco has stated that they will be “making room” for Rolando 2 by removing the original Rolando and Rolando Lite from the App Store on July 1. ngmoco hasn’t stated the reason for doing this, but apparently this isn’t the first time they have done such a thing. The original Topple is also gone from the App Store, which was probably ngmoco’s way of “making room” for Topple 2.

We are unaware if all of these removals will be temporary or if they are permanent, but we will just assume the latter at this point. We will inform all of you if and when we find out more about this sudden removal.