There's an exciting announcement at All Tech Related this week that has us saying, "We can't wait!"

ZodTDD, the developer behind GpSPhone (a Nintendo Gameboy Advance emulator for the iPhone and iPod Touch), announced the development of an N64 emulator for the iPhone and iPod touch. Zodttd believes that the current generation iPhone and iPod touch have the graphic CPU horsepower necessary to run those games. "...I can't promise it will run games top notch just yet, as things are too early to say. There's hope though, with a 3D accelerated graphics plugin, as well as an ARM dynarec."

As iPhone Savior points out, the toughest challenge could be fitting the controls onto the screen in an unobtrusive yet usable way. That was my main complaint about Resident Evil for iPhone [iTunes link] -- my hand is often in the way of what I'm trying to see.

Note that this will require an jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch.

[Via iPhone Savior]

Apple announced early this morning that there are now over 100,000 apps available to iPhone and iPod touch users in the the App Store. Customers of the App Store have purchased over two billion apps, and it is the world's most popular applications store.

In this morning's press release, Apple senior vice president for Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller noted that "The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world."

Schiller's statement was echoed by top executives from EA Mobile and Smule. EA Mobile's Travis Boatman, VP of Worldwide Studios, praised the App Store as an innovative marketplace to over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch owners, while Smule's CEO Jeff Smith took the perspective of a small, new development house that has skyrocketed to success. "With 10,000 downloads a day, worldwide customer response to our I Am T-Pain App has exceeded our wildest expectations," said Smith. "The App Store has given us a unique opportunity to create and grow a very successful business, and we're looking forward to an exciting future.

By comparison, the Google Android Market had just over 10,000 apps as of early September, almost 65% of which were free. An analysis of iPhone and Android app purchases shows that iPhone users are more likely to purchase apps, while users of Android-based smartphones appear to like getting their software for free. Developers for the most part will go where the money is, and at this time, that appears to be the App Store.

[via Engadget]

Here's a few interesting stats from a survey recently conducted in Europe. These aren't specifically about the iPhone, but given that smartphones relied on buttons almost exclusively before Apple's handheld came along (and nowadays, everyone's bragging about their touchscreen technology), a temperature-taking on what people think of touchscreen controls is more or less a referendum on what people think of Apple's influence.

At least in France, Germany and the UK, reactions are mixed. While 38% of those surveyed say they were planning to get a touchscreen on their next mobile phone, only 47% of people who already owned a touchscreen said they would get another one. In other words, less than half of touchscreen owners thought they'd stick with the technology on their next purchase. Apple remains an anomaly -- both HTC and Apple have a higher amount of current customers planning to stick with their touchscreen interface (with the full numbers being released at a conference later this month), but the fact remains: current touchscreen users aren't anywhere near 100% on living button-free forever.

Especially as a gamer, that makes a lot of sense. Touchscreens are great for a lot of things -- they allow for limitless flexibility in the kinds of interfaces on offer, and especially with multi-touch, a lot of the controls on the iPhone are extremely intuitive (you automatically know now that pinching equals zooming, and so on). But as nice as touchscreen is, there are a lot of functions on mobile phones, from adjusting volume or changing music tracks on a phone out of sight in your pocket, to hitting exact button controls while twitch gaming, that work much better with tactile feedback. Steve, as he always does, made a big deal about the iPhone being a one-button interface, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see future iterations of the iPhone include either a few more buttons, or, even better, a few more haptic interface technologies.

It's funny -- when the iPhone App Store first opened up, the first thing I asked for next was a way to manage apps from directly within iTunes. But when that finally did show up, I was still left unsatisfied for some reason. I'm not sure why -- app management offers drag-and-drop functionality with your app icons, and that's about the easiest way to organize things across the home screens. But for me, it still seems unwieldy somehow -- dragging icons onto full pages stlll creates empty pages, and dragging icons between screens is awkward to me.

I'm not an interface designer, but having more than one home screen open at a time seems like it would be nice, and being able to assign my own tags and categories to apps (combined with an auto-sort function) seems nicer. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that we can manage apps from iTunes, but it just seems harder than it should be.

Fortunately, iTunes 9.0.2 snuck a few updates to the system under our radar last week -- you can now put more than 176 apps in the organizer, and those will move on to grayed-out homescreens. You can still access them on the iPhone by using Spotlight, but those grayed-out homescreens only serve as a buffer to hold your overflow apps while you're organizing them. Doesn't really help the actual experience of sorting apps, but it should give you some breathing space when dealing with lots and lots of apps.

Speaking of buffers, it would also be nice to have a "shelf" to store app icons on while you're moving them around (you can use the bottom 4 apps as a minishelf, but that's not really enough). Maybe you could pile them into different areas on a screen and then drag them in the way you want onto your homescreens. Like I said, it's great that we do finally have an app management system in iTunes. But my feeling is that it's a little too much like the awkward iPhone-based system, especially with large numbers of apps, to be much help.

Last week, we learned that Apple would be revamping some US retail stores, including a new iPod touch-based point-of-sale (POS) system. A new scanner accessory allows Apple to replace the old Windows CE-based sales handhelds.

Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore has given AppleInsider an exclusive look at the thing, and it's pretty cool (that is, if retail hardware is your bag). It's an iPod touch with a magnetic stripe reader, a barcode scanner and Apple's proprietary payment-processing software. The iPod rests inside what AppleInsider calls a "slip-on shell" that plugs into the dock connector; it includes its own battery to power the two scanning peripherals.

Apple Store employees will use the devices to accept purchases made with credit cards, debit cards and cash; they can even make returns and activate a new iPhone.

It looks like a clever device. If you see one in the store (or if you use one), tell us what you can.

[Via The Apple Blog]

Fear of flying is nothing to laugh about. Having a panic attack while on an airplane, or not being able to even board a commercial flight because of fear, are both more common than most people would imagine. One solution is to learn how to relax, and to become knowledgeable about the sights, sounds, and feelings of flying.

Virgin Atlantic has had an amazing 98% success rate in curing fear of flying though its Flying Without Fear classes. These are seminars held throughout the UK that provide flight knowledge through a Q&A session with Virgin Atlantic flight crews, followed by a psychology session to make attendees aware of what makes them afraid and provide techniques to combat the fear. At the end of the day, attendees are taken on a short flight to try out their new knowledge and prove to themselves that they can fly without becoming paralyzed with panic.

To reach a much larger audience, Virgin Atlantic has just released the Flying Without Fear app [US$4.99, iTunes Link]. While the app doesn't include a visit from a flight crew or a psychologist, it's designed to make the techniques that have been so successful in Virgin Atlantic's in-person classes available to owners of the iPhone and iPod touch.

Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson provides a video introduction, followed by video-based explanations of what's going on at every phase of your flight. There's a built-in FAQ section with answers to questions such as "What if all the engines fail?", a set of relaxation exercises, and even a fear attack button (at right) for those scary situations that can occur in flight.

Of course, the app can't be run during takeoff and landing when you're asked to "turn off all electronic devices," but hopefully you'll gain enough confidence through using the app prior to your flight that you'll be able to stay calm.

[via CNET]

I've become very accustomed to remote-controlling my computers for a while, but nothing ever seemed to get it right. Apple's Remote for iTunes is great, of course, but what about all my other stuff on my Mac, like Boxee or VLC? Yeah, you can get some specific remotes for those apps (frankly the VLC remotes I've used were terrible and would just quit working sometimes). But what you really want is a master remote that'll take all those tasks over for you. Enter Hippo Remote [iTunes Link], a wonderful, simple, brilliant little remote app for your iPhone or iPod touch and Mac -- or PC.

Hippo Remote starts off as a trackpad, and supports gestures, multi-touch (like scrolling and zooming) and even replicates circular scrolling. There's a keyboard with F-keys, a history and navigation keys. There are app profiles for Powerpoint, Boxee, VLC, even Gmail and Windows Media Center. There's also a login manager for stuff like Gmail or Twitter, so it's very, very fast at getting you to where you need to be all via iPhone screen.

Hippo Remote's response is like butter. Scrolling, swiping, tracking are all wonderful, even on my congested network. I can even use wake-on-LAN or wake-on-wireless to zap those computers alive from anywhere in my house.

All this and the only setup was to add a password for VNC connections in my System Preferences on my Mac. There is a HippoVNC application which enables a few other features, but I don't use it. Instead, I have a saved profile for the Mac I have hooked to my HDTV, and with one tap I'm controlling that Mac via iPhone. It just doesn't get any easier.

Now you can win a copy of Hippo Remote for your own iPhone or iPod touch. Just leave a comment on this post and you're entered. Promo codes are only available for the US, sorry.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment on this post.
• The comment must be left before Saturday, November 7, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One promo code for Hippo Remote (Value: US$4.99)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

The lack of Flash of the iPhone has been an issue, complaint and breaking point for many current (and potential) iPhone users. It seems that Adobe is just as fed up as the rest of us and has started to more publicly blame Apple for the lack of this technology.

When a website requires a Flash plugin, it provides a link to a "Get Flash" page. From here and on most devices, you can download the appropriate version of Flash and be up and running in a few minutes. In the past, iPhone users have been greeted with a message that basically states that Flash is not available for their device.

A recent change, pointed out by GearDiary, shows Adobe getting a bit more snippy with Apple. The updated page now states that:

"Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch."

While this may not be "breaking news," it does say a number of things. For one, Adobe is clearly able to develop Flash for the iPhone and obviously wants to introduce it on the iPhone and iPod touch. This also shows that Adobe is very in tune of all the complaints and has redirected the blame to Apple.

Ngmoco's Eliminate has been building up buzz ever since it was announced, and now the first-person shooter is out on the App Store to try for yourself. As you can see above, it offers some relatively basic FPS gameplay when compared to shooters on other platforms (I've been having a lot of fun with Borderlands lately), but given that this is the iPhone we're talking about, this kind of twitch 3D gameplay is actually pretty impressive. You can play online over 3G or Wi-Fi, and as you play, you can earn credits and level up, which gives you access to more weapons and better gear. The game itself is free, but it's all based around a microtransaction system where you buy "energy" which allows you to earn those aforementioned resources. You get a certain amount of energy per day on your own, and if you use it up, you can't progress any further unless you get out the wallet or wait another day. And the game uses ngmoco's own Plus+ social interface to track leaderboards and accounts. Interesting plan, and we'll have to see if players vibe with it or not. Some have already voiced strong concerns about the in-game pay-to-play microtransaction system.

If that doesn't vibe with you, and you'd rather play some old-school (and old business model) FPS gameplay instead, id's Doom Classic also got released on the App Store last weekend. That game comes at a cost of $6.99, but then again, with old-school Doom, you know exactly what you're getting into. And you won't have to buy any extra energy to charge your BFG and slay any demons you happen to come across.

Irene's Spirit [US$1.99, iTunes Link] puts a fortune telling spirit into your iPhone or iPod touch (with the exception of the first generation iPod touch) as long as you're running OS 3.0.

Forget the Magic 8 Ball or Ouija Board. That's kid stuff. Irene doesn't use a 20-sided die or easily pushable planchette to give you an answer. Her answers come from the other side. The other side of what I'm not so sure, but who cares when she is dead accurate. She will make you wonder if ectoplasm will void your warranty.

I had my son ask Irene a question and he totally lost it when she told him the name of his dead grandfather. After two more passes, he got skeptical and figured out what was happening. I should have stopped while I was ahead.

Yes, it's an illusion.

I was very impressed with the best tutorial system I've seen in any app. Being an instructional designer, I know that chunking instruction and requiring feedback periodically is the best way of transferring information. Irene's Spirit is a textbook case of how to get it right.

With a bit of practice, operating the illusion is easy and distracting your audience is helped by lot of vibration noise and weird looking scrolling screens that look like something out of The Matrix.

I thought that it was a well designed, easy to learn trick that will be a hit at birthday parties, but only good for one or maybe two questions before we more skeptical grownups get wind that something's up. I had a good time with it as a casual app, and really think it's worth a look.

Take a look at this video and see Irene in action.

At least here in Colorado, the big game hunting season is mostly over for another year, except for a few late-season licenses. While many hunters may be nursing deer camp hangovers, maintaining their firearms, or telling yarns about the ones that got away, those who own an iPhone or iPod touch can still be blasting away at Bambi.

There are a huge number of hunting-related apps in the App Store, ranging from various deer and duck hunting simulations to duck and deer calls. Let's take a look at a ten-pack of apps:

Go out and blast at virtual deer, elk, caribou, grizzly bears, and black bears with 3D Hunting Trophy Whitetail [US$0.99, iTunes Link]. Four weapon types (Lever-Action Rifle, Bolt-Action Rifle, Scoped Bolt-Action Rifle, or Bow & Arrow) are available for your shooting enjoyment, and you get to use calls and scents to attract your prey.

If you've seen Minigore [iTunes Link] or played iDracula [iTunes Link] you're familiar with this game mechanism, now quite popular on the store: left thumb moves, right thumb aims and shoots, all in an isometric 3/4 view. Boxhead Zombie Wars [iTunes Link] brings some nice weaponry to the game, plus a raft of defensive tools to allow a little more strategy than either of the comparison apps I mentioned.

Boxhead offers a Flash-based version of the game here if you're interested in how much gore and mayhem is involved. It's a lot, really, but perfect for the genre.

Now you can win one of 10 promo codes to try Zombie Wars yourself. If you don't win, there's also a Lite version [iTunes Link] to try before you buy. Good luck!

Here's a video of the game in action:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment on this post.
• The comment must be left before Sunday, November 1, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One promo code for Boxhead Zombie Wars (Value: US$1.99)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Just in case you missed it, I got my wish from a while back: there is an official version of the classic board game Settlers of Catan, called just Catan, on the App Store right now. I'm still playing Kolonists, the unofficial knockoff that got kicked off of the store for infringement, but if you've got wood for sheep, this official version should get you your portable fix. If you're unfamiliar with the Catan juggernaut, check out this thorough piece from Wired.com.

There's hot seat multiplayer gameplay (I assume you just can't cheat by looking at what resources other people have), or a few AIs to tangle with if you don't have friends at hand, and the game includes a scrollable board to play on, game stats to track, and a tutorial for those of you who haven't rolled the dice and tried to build the Longest Road yet.

The game is created by United Soft Media, a German company that's also ported the game to the DS, and while it's not quite as shiny as the Xbox Live port (my personal favorite version of the game, outside of the real thing, of course), the reviews on iTunes say it gets the job done, at least while you're waiting for the next board game night (and while we're talking about board games, can I recommend Dominion? Best table game I've played in years). The game is $4.99 and available right now. Anyone have any ore?

We loved Triazzle 3.0 [iTunes Link] when it came out in July, but with winter nearly upon us it's time to dust off the sleigh bells and dreidels because Triazzle Holiday [iTunes Link] is here in a new seasonally-inspired version. This slightly cut-down version of the US$2.99 app sells for US$0.99, and runs on any iPhone or iPod touch running OS 2.2.1 or higher.

Triazzle is a puzzle game where you are given a sectioned triangle board and 9 (down from 16 in the full app) smaller triangle pieces that fit in the larger triangle like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are moved to the board and rotated to get the proper orientation, when all nine are in place, you have won. The rub is that many pieces can look maddeningly similar and there is only correct solution to each puzzle. So even if it looks right, you can be wrong. When you are right, you are rewarded with an animation and the match counter increments.

This version of Triazzle is chock-full of holiday lights, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Dreidels, Nutcrackers, and a litany of other things to make you think of the holidays. The game has 4 difficulty levels ranging from one for kids to level 3, which is really quite difficult. Animated hints are available along with an option invoking the Triazzle Tiki Gods to solve the puzzle for you.

What sets Triazzle Holiday apart from just about anything else is its craftsmanship. Every screen is more gorgeous than the next, and the level of detail of the graphics can leave you breathless. If the visuals get too complex you can choose to display simpler backgrounds to make things easier to see. You can also adjust whether or not snow will fall, and you can set the volume level of music, ambient sounds, and game sounds.

Music is a large part of the game. Right after the splash screen you are advised to use headphones. Drag them out of the closet for this one -- it's worth it. The music is wonderfully recorded and reproduced using such favorites as Jingle Bells and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies from The Nutcracker Suite. In addition there is a lot of original music, including a spirited Klezmer number backing up a game full of Dreidels.

Triazzle Holiday will only be available through the holiday season, so get your copy now, put on your headphones, and immerse yourself in this impressive game.

Here in the UK, it's getting pretty chilly on the willy compared to a month ago, or so. The warm memories of the summer are slowly dwindling to the reality of earlier, darker evenings (the clocks have just gone forward) as well as tentative first visits from our old friend Jack Frost. Generally speaking, the cold grasp of winter is steadily fastening on us (or not).

But we are blessed with a few heart warming occasions over the winter season (Christmas, New Years Eve etc) that make the cold, well, a little less nippy on the bone. One of these such occasions is, of course, Guy Fawkes night (Remember remember the 5th of November...) And, to me, that means one thing, HOUSE PARTY! And what does a great house party need? An authentic DJ.

So when I heard my main man Dan the DJ couldn't make the party (or at the least lend me his decks) I turned to the next best thing, Sonorasaurus - the first complete deejay setup for the iPhone / iPod Touch.

At this point you may be wondering what a DJ app has to do with 'Count The Beats', or, in fact making music on an Apple platform, but it quite literally has everything to do with it. Come on, we all know that deejays are real musicians too, right?