The rumor about NFC in the next iPhone revision comes courtesy of a source talking to Cult of Mac, who wished to remain anonymous. Initially, according to the report, the iPhone 5 would work sort of like an electronic wallet that carries around your personal information and allows you to use it on other Macs. That could include address book information, logins and more. Later, it could fully transform any Mac into a mirror image of your own.

Of course, the NFC tech needs both a transmitter and receiver, so Macs would have to be outfitted with the tech to take advantage, but that’s an easy enough addition to future models on the manufacturing side of things.

Apple’s recent hiring decisions back up these new rumors. Recent hires include a leading expert in the NFC field, and Apple has a lot of related patents on the books, so it’s likely that they are working on something to do with the tech. Whether what they’re working on will every see the light of day is another story.

If implemented, the new system could have a positive impact on Apple’s presence in enterprise. Imagine being able to change virtually any Mac into your own personal workstation just by being in proximity and entering a passcode. It’s something people who work on the road would really appreciate, and likely something that hotels and other businesses that cater to those travellers would have strong financial reason to implement.

It also would help Apple transition more of OS X to the cloud, a likely direction for all operating systems to take in the future, and it would be another link between Apple’s notebook and desktop OS and its mobile products. Greater integration is clearly a goal for the Mac maker going forward. Plus, if made available to iOS and Mac developers as a public API, there’s no telling what kind of innovative software we could see.

RFID is already rumored to be coming to iPhones sometime down the road, and that’s a type of NFC, so this is definitely one to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see at least the seeds for this kind of remote portability sewn in Apple’s next round of major mobile hardware revisions.

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The redesigned universal app brings Retina Display support, makes great use of the larger screen space on the iPad and introduces a brand new icon that shares some design similarities with the new iTunes 10 icon. But the changes aren’t only visual.

Remote now supports shared libraries (turned off by default, can be turned on in the app’s settings), allowing you to login with your iTunes account and find any libraries using Home Sharing with the computer you’re controlling. It may seem like a small thing, but it can really help if you don’t have your music consolidated in one machine.

Finally, it also brings full support for AirPlay, and compatibility and bug fixes for iTunes 10 and the new Apple TV. Still free, and a great surprise for those of us who may have given up on Apple’s very first downloadable app.

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday published a patent application Apple made way back in 2008 for “Pushing a User Interface to a Remote Device.” So, then…Smart Remotes. Cool!

MacRumor’s Eric Slivka reports that the patent’s lead inventor is William Bull, now Yahoo’s Senior Director of Mobile User Experience, but once upon a time Apple’s iPod User Interface Manager. The so-called “father of the iPod,” Tony Fadell, is also credited.

The idea is simple; portable media devices — such as iPods and iPhones, for example — have their own on-board Graphical User Interface (GUI) and, usually, a built-in screen. Thing is, we don’t always want to take our iPhone out of our pocket when we’re listening to music (or, if you’re me, catching up on podcasts while washing the dishes).

Enter remote controls (referred to in this patent as “accessories”). Often they’re dumb little inline sticks with a few fiddly (not to mention tiny) buttons. They’re useful, but basic, offering perhaps only a half dozen simple controls. Some of the more elaborate remotes have their own little displays, which is all very well and good, except that they also employ their own little GUIs which not only fail to resemble the one on the device you’re trying to control, but often don’t provide full access to all the device’s functions. From the patent application:

…existing remote GUIs are defined and controlled by the remote control device, and consequently, they may bear little resemblance to a GUI supplied by the portable media device itself Certain functions available on the portable media device (such as browsing or searching a database, adjusting playback settings, etc.) may be unavailable or difficult to find.

Apple’s solution is to “push” the device’s GUI to a remote an accessory with a built-in display. Here’s the description from the patent application (I’ve shortened it to just the main points);

The portable media device can provide the accessory with an image to be displayed on the video screen… [and] include various user interface elements that can resemble or replicate a “native” GUI provided directly on the portable media device. The accessory can send information to the portable media device indicative of a user action […] for example, that a particular button was pressed or that a particular portion of a touch-sensitive display screen was touched by the user. The portable media device can process this input to identify the action requested by the user and take the appropriate action. The action may include providing to the accessory an updated GUI image to be displayed, where the updated GUI image reflects the user action.

Essentially this describes a touch-enabled screen, small enough (and dumb enough) to still be called an accessory, which effectively acts as a small auxiliary display/input panel for the device.

I can’t see this making its way into an inline remote (it’s just not Apple’s style to make a wearable remote that’s big) but I can see a future revision of Apple’s current Remote that entirely does away with the buttons, replacing them with a capacitive touch screen.

Future software updates would enable one to connect the remote to a nearby Mac mini, Apple TV, even an iPod touch, and switch between those devices the same way the iPhone Remote app does today. The GUI would change, depending on the selected device.

The only drawback I can see to such a device (and remember, I’m just extrapolating here and imagining a potential future gadget — Apple’s patent application only describes a possible method and not an actual product) is that a remote with a capacitive touch screen will chew through its battery in next to no time. Is it conceivable we’ll be buying a charging dock for a future Apple MultiRemote?

More compelling is the notion that Apple could build this technology into an entire ecosystem, licensing third-party developers to create compatible hardware; imagine a house where a smart display on the door of your refrigerator not only tells you when the milk needs replacing but also allows you to skip tracks on the album you’re playing over AirTunes…

But am I thinking too small? Is this yet another patent application that will, ultimately, come to nothing, or could this be an early clue to a new Apple-tastic revolution?

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pocket BLU is a free download from the App Store that allows your iPhone to become a remote control for operating Blu-ray discs from Universal. It won’t work with just any movie, of course. Blu-ray discs need to be played using a Wi-Fi connected player, for one, and the title has to be specifically enabled to work with pocket BLU, something which will be indicated by a conspicuously placed logo.

The app will allow you to control playback of the film, and jump backwards and forwards to any point in the movie using a visual time line. You’ll also have access to a pop-up keyboard for entering data, which will definitely make any typing you need to do with your Blu-ray movie much easier. Finally, some titles will offer the ability to stream special content from the disc to your iPhone, which can then be stored for later viewing.

The app has promise, but limited as it is to one major distributor’s titles, it feels a little like yet another extraneous feature designed to add value to a format that’s failing to catch on with most consumers. Chances are, I’m never going to watch or care about the additional features included for pocket BLU users anyway, so why not just stick to playing back digital content on my Mac and using Rowmote or VLC Remote to control it? Take it from me, Universal, you’ll be far better off if you focus on delivering content to the iPhone platform, instead of just control mechanisms.

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Along with new iMacs, Mac minis, mice and MacBooks, Apple also quietly unveiled a made-over Remote. It still does the same thing it always has, which is control you Mac or dock-connected iPod remotely, but now it does it with a different aesthetic and improved usability.

The new remote, as you can see from the picture accompanying this post, has an aluminum enclosure and black plastic buttons, borrowing a cue from the design of recent iMacs and MacBook Pros. Note also the button layout change. The Play/Pause button now resides beneath the directional/volume/skip radial button, a new neighbor for the Menu button. The positioning should be better for folks who use Front Row, in which they activate back/forward functions, but I think I prefer the old layout myself, being strictly a VLC guy.

I am happy about the change in the battery door location. You can now use a coin to swivel out the battery cover, sort of like you do on an Apple wireless keyboard. Much better than old bottom-loading batter drawer on the plastic model, which was prone to popping open and just felt generally unstable.

I’m surprised by Apple, which has demonstrated a clear distaste for buttons recently with the iPod shuffle and the new Magic Mouse. It’s only be a matter of time before the Remote gets redesigned as a touch-sensitive slap of nondescript solid aluminum, mark my words.

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For those who aren’t familiar with Zipcar, it’s a car-sharing service that allows members to rent a car during the day for running errands, etc. Cars can be picked up from convenient parking lots located throughout the urban areas served by Zipcar and dropped off again in another designated area. Zipcar members pay a monthly subscription fee and hourly and daily rates for use of the car.

The Zipcar app was one of those touted as taking advantage of new iPhone OS 3.0 features to deliver innovative functionality for users of Apple’s wonder device. And it seems to work just as advertised. The app uses your location as a starting point to find nearby cars available for booking. You can filter your results by time, type and model, which will highlight pins on the map in green that fit your criteria.

All of Zipcar’s automobiles are named, and once you find one that fits your needs and schedule, you can book it directly from the app, so long as you are a Zipcar subscriber. If you’re not, you can still try out the free app, you just won’t be able to book any cars. Clicking on a car at any location provides you with further information, including the hourly and daily rate for the vehicle in question, and supplementary information, including things like cargo capacity and any special features.

The iPhone app also includes a virtual wireless entry key fob that connects with a car once you’ve booked it. If you’re not a member and you’re just playing around with the app like I was, you also won’t be able to use the remote car unlocker/horn honker, although you can use it to make noise on your device itself. If you are a member, the inclusion of this feature means you won’t need anything besides your iPhone to get on the road.

Even though I don’t have a membership myself, I can tell this app is an impressive example of using the iPhone to help make people’s lives easier. It further simplifies a process which is meant to be simple to begin with, and I only hope other companies are watching and follow suit.

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So why would anybody need an app to do this when most apps have keyboard shortcuts already? Well the answer is simple if you consider the power of leveraging the large screen on the iPhone. When it launched sans a physical keyboard, Steve Jobs commented that it was a great idea to do away with it, because there are times when you don’t need a full size keyboard. If you are typing in numbers, it would be great to see large numbers instead of individual keys.

The same holds true for shortcuts. Why should I have to press “Shift+Command+Delete” to empty my trash when I could just use one button for that same purpose? Keymote addresses this usability blemish.

Keymote’s setup process is very simple and only requires that your iPhone and Mac share a Wi-Fi connection. Download the remote software on your Mac and it resides on the menu bar. Once you’ve paired the iPhone to your Mac from the app, you’re ready to roll.

Keymote comes with several keysets out of the box but also includes an in-app store that provides a larger wealth of free downloadable keysets for other popular apps, all contributed by users. Instantly download keysets for Aperture, Adobe Illustrator, Pages or any other app you use frequently. My favorite is the Numerical Keypad keyset which will help your stylish Apple keyboard feel a little more powerful.

If there’s not a keyset for an application you like to use, feel free to create your own and share it with others. If a particular keyset is not quite up to your standards, tap a key or spacer and hold. Then you can just drag it to a better location. If a shortcut is missing, just tap the plus and add it right alongside the rest.

The only thing to keep in mind is that you might find yourself using your phone more often than before. In case, my iPhone has become more of an auxiliary keypad and so I needed to adjust my sleep settings to keep my phone awake. Additionally, Keymote requires the software you’re using be the active application. This means if I call up Photoshop key commands and create a new document, it invokes “Command+N.” If Photoshop isn’t the active application, “Command+N” will apply to whichever app is active. The developers are aware of this limitation, and it’s something they are working to address.

With a stylish user interface that looks great not just on my iPhone, but as a “keypad” next to my Mac, Keymote is a great application for those whose regularly harness the power of shortcuts. Keymote is $3.99 and available for download on the App Store. If you’ve had the chance to try it out, please share your thoughts.

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My Apple in-ear headset is fine. Despite complaints that there’s too much cable noise, and that they don’t seal well, I’ve had little trouble personally (or I’m just good at overlooking flaws in Apple hardware). Still, I have some nice noise-canceling Sony DJ cups just sitting unused in my closet, and I’m actually far more partial to an around-the-ear than an in-ear design. But I need the in-line remote.

It’s a problem whose solution is obvious: build a third-party remote/adapter that will allow regular headphones to work with the iPhone, including all the fun new remote features available on the 3GS and the 2G touch. Unfortunately, I am not a third-party hardware peripheral manufacturer. iLuv, however, is, and luckily they had the same bright idea.

The iLuv iEA15 adapter has been announced, according to Crave Asia, and offers a solution for those unwilling to trash their current headphones of choice in favor of something with less sound/comfort quality with a built-in Apple remote. It’s compatible with any iPod or iPhone that supports remote functions, which includes the newest iPod Shuffle, and, I assume, the iPhone 3G, albeit without the use of the volume buttons, since those weren’t supported until the 3GS.

You’ll also get Voice Control and VoiceOver support via the in-line microphone, which is frankly the best part about this new remote. So long as quality isn’t an issue (and hopefully won’t be, since iLuv has a pretty good track record so far), I can easily see this taking over as my iPhone peripheral of choice. I may even spring for those Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones I’ve had my eye on.

No word yet on official release date or pricing, but you can bet it’ll be less than the $80 Apple charges for its in-ear headset, and probably well under what most third-party headset manufacturers charge, too. It’ll work with the 3GS, iPod touch 2G, and Shuffle 3G as mentioned above, and also with the iPod classic 120GB and iPod nano 4G.

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I have really enjoyed my Apple TV since the beginning, but I will admit that I enjoy it a lot more with the Remote application on my iPhone. Apple has updated the Remote app and the Apple TV firmware, making the Apple TV even better when used with an iPhone or iPod touch, and perhaps showing a lasting commitment to this hobby project at 1 Infinite Loop.

While the original Remote app allowed you to browse content and use the iPhone keyboard to enter text, it did not allow you to navigate the onscreen menus. This wasn’t such a big deal when playing your own media because you could just pick the song, movie or TV show from the list of files. However, when browsing through YouTube or Flickr, it was annoying to switch back and forth between the original white Apple remote and your iPhone. The new Remote app now has additional finger gesture controls to replace traditional controls, so you can finally control everything from your iPhone or iPod touch. The update adds a few new tricks to the media player as well.

Here’s what you can do with the new app…

Video Playback

• Flick or drag and hold to move the on-screen selection. Tap to select.
• Tap to Play or Pause
• Flick left or right, or drag and hold to rewind or fast-forward.
• Flick down to show chapter markers, then flick left or right to skip.
• Drag two fingers left for replay.

Audio Playback

1. Tap to Play or Pause.
2. Drag left or right and hold to rewind or fast-forward.
3. Flick left or right for previous or next.

In addition, you can move up the menu tree by holding your finger over the bar at the bottom of the control screen.

Apple TV 2.4 Firmware

The new firmware also adds new features to the Apple TV itself.

• Remote app directional control — Control your Apple TV with simple finger gestures via the Remote app. This feature requires Remote 1.3 running on an iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0.
• Flickr Search — Search Flickr photo tags to find recently updated photos of interest. Save searches to quickly find new photos or use as a screen saver for Apple TV.
• New view options — View movies By Genre, By Movie, or Unwatched. View TV Shows and Podcasts By Date, By Show, or Unwatched.
• Updated transport and chapter modes — During video playback, click right or left to fast forward or rewind. Additional clicks increase the speed. Click down to show chapter markers.

Boxee, et al.

There are conflicting reports on the Boxee forums, but the media software has been successfully installed by at least one user. Some have had problems, though, so you may want to wait a day or two for things to settle out before updating. ATV files will need to be updated for the 2.4 update. I’m waiting on the USB hack to get updated myself.

Hobby?

Steve Jobs has referred to the Apple TV as a hobby business (when compared with the Mac, iPod and iPhone businesses) on more than one occasion. But this new remote app, and the Apple TV update, shows some signs of life in the group. Also telling are at least two recent openings on Apple’s employment web site for Apple TV engineers (which have since been removed). A hardware update with a faster processor and a GPU capable of decoding 1080p H.264 (and compatible with OpenCL) would go a long way towards keeping the Apple TV alive and relevant for the immediate future. It is a great device for playing music (I have thousands of songs at my fingertips with the iPhone remote that I can control from anywhere in the house), but a hardware update with improved HD video playback would make this a more compelling device.

So Happy Together

The Apple TV and iPhone were made for each other. Now that the Remote app does everything you need to fully control the Apple TV, it is just brilliant. Seriously, if you have an Apple TV, you need to go buy an iPod Touch (maybe a used one?) just to get the remote app. It’s better than using the white remote, or even a universal remote programmed to replace it.

I’ll keep my eyes posted on conflicts with Boxee and ATV Files. Let us know what your experience is with the new update.

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Ever since I owned a Sony Ericsson phone which connected to my Mac via Salling Clicker, I’ve been fascinated with controlling OS X remotely. The iPhone created a fantastic device for taking remote control to a new level, and a search for “remote” in the App Store illustrates how popular the idea is.

A relatively new app on the scene is Rowmote, which takes a much more simplified approach. Rather than trying to offer a huge array of functionality, it simply replicates the controls found on a standard Apple remote. This provides a thoroughly appealing solution as Apple doesn’t always bundle remote controls with new computers.

Initiating a Connection

Rowmote consists of two separate applications. As you’d expect, one goes on your iPhone and the other (a “helper app”) is installed on your desktop. The installation process is simple, although a restart was required by the desktop installer — something I’m not used to on OS X!

Provided that both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, they should see each other immediately and initiate a connection (as shown on the right).

One of the major advantages of connecting via Wi-Fi is that a line of sight isn’t required to communicate. Whether you’re wandering around the room or happily waving your iPhone around, it should still be able to skip a track or adjust your volume.

Application Switcher

The only aspect of the remote which goes beyond that provided by Apple is the ability to swap focus between different applications. These include Front Row, Airfoil Video, Boxee, iPhoto, iTunes, Quicktime, DVD Player, Keynote ’08 and ‘09, PandoraJam, Plex, Powerpoint 2008, Skim, Spotify and VLC.

The latest version of Rowmote also has preliminary EyeTV support, allowing you to change channels and adjust the volume. It would be great if future versions could offer full control of EyeTV via their full-screen menu (in a similar fashion to Front Row).

Other Solutions

There are a number of other remote control applications available for the iPhone that are worth noting as alternatives.

For accessing your music and video, the first (and most popular) to note is Apple’s Remote app. This allows full control of iTunes playback, browsing of your library, and a whole range of other features. Other media-centric applications include VLC Remote for controlling the popular video player, a Boxee Remote, or jfControl for generic volume, track skipping, etc.

If you’re looking for a presentation remote control for Keynote, it’s definitely worth considering Apple’s official Keynote Remote. This is another visual treat, showing you which slides are coming up next along with any notes you’ve made. If you prefer to use PowerPoint (on Windows or Mac) it’s worth considering i-Clickr, which offers similar functionality.

Finally, a number of different remote controls allow you to actually control the keyboard and mouse of your machine. These obviously offer the broadest level of interaction, but can be incredibly fiddly to use. My favorite is Snatch, but other free solutions include RemotePad or Remote Desktop Light.

Conclusion

While I certainly admire the simplicity of Rowmote, in some ways I feel left wanting more. It’s great to have a low-cost application to replace a standard Apple remote, but the iPhone is capable of far more powerful and interactive connectivity (as some of the other remote applications go to show). It seems frustrating that you’re unable to interact with iTunes in a detailed level as you can with Apple’s Remote application. That said, if using Front Row, a similar level of navigation and control is possible.

Rowmote requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later, and is priced at 99 cents. It’s certainly a great deal cheaper than a replacement Apple Remote, and offers marginally greater functionality. If you’ve lost the remote that came with your Mac or want to replicate its simplicity on your iPhone, Rowmote is definitely the way to go.

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Place your iPhone on the floor and prepare to dance a merry jig, it’s the weekend and that means I’ve prepared a selection of fresh picks from the App Store.

As ever, before we get stuck in to a hand-picked selection of the latest releases from the App Store, I’ve delved in to the week’s Apple happenings to bring you notable news from the past seven days.

First up, swiftly following the Watchmen movie release came the iPhone game. Featured in TheAppleBlog’s new App Review series, the game managed to earn our first Rotten Apple award. If this game were a person you’d be best off giving them a swift kick to the shins and walking away — it’s awful.

On Tuesday, the latest update of Tweetie — my fave app for tweeting — was blocked from release by Apple. It’s all to do with ‘objectionable content’ namely a very naughty word, our own Darrel Etherington explains everything.

Another column new to TheAppleBlog, Jailbreak, continued this week. Clayton Lai highlighted five must-know things about jailbreaking your iPhone. It’s all terribly informative, especially for those new to all this jailbreaking business.

And speaking of hacked iPhones, one thing that those with jailbroken devices might have problems using is the latest iPhone firmware. Version 3.0 of the iPhone OS is due to drop next Tuesday, March 17, at a special Apple event.

Finally, Apple released the latest version of iTunes, integrating several updates including a smart new DJ mix feature, and also squeezed out a brand new iPod Shuffle. The new Shuffle has been causing somewhat of a stir due to its buttonless design, moving controls over to the proprietary headphones.

On to the apps now, this week I’ve been looking at Remote, Eliss, Payback Lite and Topple 2.

Remote (free)
Strictly speaking this isn’t a new release — it’s the same old app from Apple that enables you to remotely control iTunes using your iPhone. However, the latest update to iTunes adds some interesting new functionality to remote — now friends with their own touch or iPhone can use Remote to request and vote for songs to be added to your iTunes playlist. It’s a fantastic concept, effectively transforming iTunes in to a social jukebox.

Eliss ($3.99)
Frankly I’m still not entirely sure how this minimal vector game works, but I’m pretty sure the satisfying bleeps triggered when I squish two planets together are a good thing. Steph Thirion has done just that with Eliss, a puzzle game with an ultra-retro look that involves blending planets to ensure galactic harmony. I’ll always get behind the indie game developers who are prepared to take risks and, in creating something a little different, design fun new experiences.

Payback Lite (free)
Then again, we don’t always need bold risk-taking to ensure that games are fun: Payback is a blatant rip of the Grand Theft Auto series, closely resembling GTA 2 in particular. The game packs in a suspension-bouncing soundtrack, big explosions and a selection of vehicles to speed about the city in while completing your illicit assignments. My favorite feature though is the poorly acted voice-overs, complete with awful cockney accents — it gives the whole game an endearing low-budget Guy Ritchie vibe. Try the free Lite edition before upgrading to the full game.

Topple 2 ($2.99)
The sequel to Topple — a totally weirded-out Tetris-esque game that involves balancing emotional blocks on top of each other — has just hit the App Store. The new version features some gameplay twists including Rescue and Power Tower, six different worlds with lush artwork and both Wi-Fi and email multiplayer. If you’re not familiar with the original, take a moment to grab the original — for free — from the App Store.

That’s all from the App Store for this week. I’ll return during the week with TheAppleBlog App Review and, as always, on Saturday with my Weekly App Store Picks.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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After our first week proper in 2009, we’ve run smack-bang in to a hurricane of Apple news courtesy of this year’s Macworld event.

Over at Apple’s final MacWorld Keynote, standing in for Papa Jobs, Uncle Phil unveiled brand new iLife and iWork suites, alongside completing the Macbook Pro lineup with a 17″ model touting 8 hours of battery life.

And, to finish proceedings off, Apple revealed special singing guest Tony Bennett, allowing the adoring audience to bask in the warmth of his orange glow as he crooned the keynote to a close.

While everyone else at TheAppleBlog has had their eye on Macworld, I’ve been rolling around in the App Store and getting friendly with the latest additions.

This week I’ve been looking at Keynote Remote, Wallpaper Notes, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center and Bank Panic.

Keynote Remote ($0.99)
If you’re passionate and prepared, presenting can be a true pleasure. Keynote, being the polished application that it is, makes both preparation and execution a breeze. When I present, the Apple Remote is a key tool: enabling me to present in a fluid and relaxed manner. Using the Remote, I’m not looking at a screen or even notes, I’m looking at — and engaging with — the audience. If you want your presentations to be more effective, don’t bother with this app, go back to basics — learn your subject inside out, practice, relax and, on the day, enthuse.

Wallpaper Notes ($0.99)
Apple’s embedded Notes app is already out-dated; there’s no desktop or web sync, no reminders functionality, no bells and a distinct absence of whistles. I replaced Notes with Evernote, which incorporates a cavalcade of note-taking features. Wallpaper Notes does nothing special, bar one killer feature: saving notes as iPhone wallpaper, meaning that a quick check of the screen keeps you informed. A cunning work-around indeed.

Cisco WebEx Meeting Center (free)
Back when I worked for the European-arm of an American mobile media publisher, I learnt two important things: a white vest and organic American Apparel underwear are only ever acceptable work-wear when working from home, and, when we conducted large-scale meetings with our cousins ‘cross the pond, Cisco’s WebEx was an invaluable tool in bringing us together. Long-awaited by iPhone-touting business folk, this mobile implementation of WebEx incorporates audio-visual presentations and even chat functionality.

Bank Panic ($0.99)
It’s a morbidly apt premise for a simple iPhone game and I love it: bankrupt stock brokers have taken to hurling themselves out of high-rises due to the global financial crisis. It’s your job to stop the depressed Dow dealers snapping their supple skulls on the hard floor by catching their falling bodies in your miracle blanket. Now if this deliciously horrid plot wasn’t reason enough to purchase the game, here’s the really clever bit: the game’s difficulty is linked to the real-world value of the Dow Jones — the lower the Dow drops, the tougher the gameplay gets.

Just One More Thing

It seems that this week’s Roundup has been of a decidedly productive nature, covering tools for meetings, note-taking and presenting. Even Bank Panic has serious under-currents with its amusing use of the declining Dow Jones feeding the stock-brokers’ suicide rate.

So it’s time we lighten the mood a little as, like Sauron’s great big burning eye in the sky, I’m going to turn my cyclopean gaze to the future and draw your attention to a very promising iPhone game due out soon.

Bovine Dragon Software are the designers behind Trace, an inventive game that involves drawing the platforms that your character traverses in each stage, released last year. About to pop its youngling head out from the womb of development is Bovine Dragon’s latest creation, Gomi.

From the cutesy preview videos, it seems that Gomi is a mash-up of Mario Galaxy, Katamari Damacy and LocoRoco, wrapped in graphics that look like they were drawn in Microsoft Paint. According to the developers, the eco-friendly, grinning Gomi will be out by February, in the meantime, check out the videos to see the game in action.

Over the course of the holiday season, I decided to invest in Gameloft’s Uno for iPhone. The game is bug-ridden, clunky and slow, certainly not worth the five bucks I paid for it. And I should have known better – I’ve previously worked for a big mobile publisher and developer, based on my own experience and general industry chit-chat with my peers, I know exactly what goes in to the development of these games.

Perhaps it’s an effort to appease the needs of licensors, or to hit unrealistic release dates promised by uncommunicative marketing and sales departments, maybe it’s to please investors (who are often shielded from a proper overview of the business by misguided MDs) or it’s as distasteful as knowingly rushing a title out with a recognizable logo pasted on to it (that acts as a horridly misleading seal of quality), there are a multitude of possible reasons as to why games from the big developers and publishers are often offensively shoddy disappointments.

I’ll summarize my point as such: look at Tapulous, Hand Circus and Illusion Labs –  bastions of quality independent development. It’s time the big guys started taking notes from the little guys.

That’s all from the App Store for this week, I’m quitting my jibber jabber for another 7 days and I’ll be back next Saturday with more apps. In the meantime, drop by the comments and let me know what apps you’ve been looking at.

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The iPod has a set of simple arcade games available for download from iTunes. The Apple TV has a hard drive and a network connection, capable of downloading firmware updates. It doesn’t seem too far-fetched that I could navigate my Apple TV at some future point and pull down the equivalents of Tetris, BeJeweled, Brick Breaker, or other games, through a channel parallel to that of YouTube. But even if Apple were to extend games from the iPod and iPhone to the Apple TV, for projection on attached wide screen TVs, the effort to enforce minimalism on the Apple Remote wouldn’t leave many options open for developers or game enthusiasts more comfortable with with multi-button controllers.

I’ve grown used to the Apple Remote as a great navigational tool for Apple TV, but all it offers are directional keys, a play/pause button and the Menu key. Even the addition of an iPod-like scroll wheel would be better for games than this. While I laud the intent of Steve Jobs and Apple to deliver a small, easy to handle remote for one function, it is missing the capability to expand, should the Apple TV ever graduate from a “hobby” to a real product line that Apple takes seriously. A great start to making us early adopters believe that Apple wants to move beyond the hobby stage would be to add games to the Apple TV and offer a new remote.

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