Posts tagged 4g

Hands-On Preview and Video of ‘Gangstar: West Coast Hustle’

The iPhone has so far seen both 2D (Car Jack Streets) and 2.5D (Payback) GTA-clones but, as yet, iPhone gamers have not had a fully 3D world in which to wreak the particular sort of inner-city mayhem that has made the genre so popular. Thanks to Gameloft, that’s about to change.

gangstar screen

Yesterday Touch Arcade visited Gameloft’s Manhattan studio to have a look at a preview build of their upcoming Grand Theft Auto-like iPhone title Gangstar: West Coast Hustle.

The studio’s forthcoming Gangstar, which is an enhanced port of their 2006 mobile handset title, is a fully 3D take on the formula, set in an expansive world (Los Angeles) that strives to bring the modern, home console GTA experience to iPhone gamers.

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The story goes something like this: Our hero, Pedro, has recently been released from a Mexican prison and has crossed the border into the U.S., arriving in LA, where he meets up with his friend Juan’s cousin who recruits Pedro to get revenge on the rival Los Matadors gang. Missions to this end include collecting guns, killing people, even helping people — but mostly killing people. There are mini or side missions to keep things varied as well, such as heading across town to pick up a gun at a friend’s house.

While unquestionably a GTA-inspired title, Gangstar departs somewhat from the formula of the original by not including any missions dealing with the drug trade or prostitution. There is no money to be made in selling jacked cars to chop shops, either. In Gangstar, it’s killing people that gets you the cash. Whether by close fist combat, machine gun, or just a good old fashion squish-and-run, murder is the currency of the game. As such, Gameloft expects the game to receive a “16+” ESRB rating.


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The game is a free-roam sandbox affair, with LA being the sandbox. And the game world is actually modeled after LA with some accuracy. Hollywood, Santa Monica, South Central, and other well-known areas of the city are represented with many distinguishing characteristics in place. Portions of the game are also played through sequences that are flashbacks to Pedro’s time in the Mexican pen.

The game is rather cut-scene heavy, with most of the back-story and missions being laid out in on-screen text dialog during the in-engine scenes in question. Happily, the frequent cut-scenes can be quickly tapped-through and are generally to-the-point, without lavish theatrics that might slow down gameplay.

Most any car in the game world can be jacked for transportation, and certain vehicles are presented during cut-scenes to be used to complete various missions. Certain vehicles must be unlocked through play progress before they are accessible, however.

All that killing and jacking and general mayhem will, of course, get the attention of the police before long. Cops in this game are pretty aggressive, but luckily there are ways to work through it. When you’re the target of an APB, various police badges appear around the city, shown on the on-screen map. Each one you pick up reduces the cops’ alert level. But grab them fast. And if that doesn’t quite work out for you, it’s possible to “corrupt” cops and bribe your way out of a sticky situation — but it’ll cost you.

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When on foot, an on-screen stick is used to control Pedro, with a set of contextual tap buttons to perform actions. Vehicles are controlled through a choice of any of three different controls methods: stick (which is a left / right slider for steering), on-screen steering wheel, and tilt-based control. When fighting (with fists or guns), a tap to the enemy of choice will lock onto him, directing all attacks directly at him. I tried out all control methods save tilt and found them to work very well.

On the audio front, Gameloft definitely didn’t skimp. A total of four different radio stations can be accessed with each vehicle’s radio: rock, latino, techno, and hip-hop. Each station delivers all-original music as well as DJ commentary. A very nice feature of the game that utilizes iPhone OS 3.0 is the ability for players to listen to their own music instead of the on-air radio (using OS 3.0 devices).

There is currently no online gameplay or scoreboard component, but Gameloft indicates that they are now in the process of planning upgrades that will be released over time, adding features to the title.

This hands-on video shows the game in action on a 2nd Gen iPod Touch. An earlier video was also shown when the game was first announced, but that was not shown running on an actual device.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Gangstar: West Coast Hustle looks like a very solid take on the GTA formula that, even in my short time with the game, impressed me with its large, sprawling game world. This, coupled with the choose-your-mission nature of the title, should make for very significant playtime. We’ll take a much closer look when the game goes live in August but, from what I’ve seen so far, Gangstar might just provide iPhone gamers the most potent GTA fix in the App Store.

Mini External Microphone for the iPhone



Brando has listed an external Flexible Mini Capsule Microphone for the iPhone which is said to improve audio recording by 10x.

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Voice and video recording on iPhone 3.0 brings iPhone owners to the new mobile multimedia era. Yet, sound quality is not the best. Try out the NEW Flexible mini capsule microphone which is especially designed for new iPhone 3.0. It enables you to record better sound quality. Instead of receiving sound from the iPhone speaker at the bottom, your iPhone can receive sound from any direction.

It is especially useful while shooting video as the microphone and the camera can be pointed to the same direction. Bend and turn the microphone to the desired direction to focus sound source. Flexible mini capsule microphone gains 25+ dB, sound clarity increases as well as sound quality improves. It works on iPhone 3G S, iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G and iPod Nano 4G.
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Download Original Testing Sample Files
1. AudioWithoutMic.m4a
2. AudioWithMic.m4a

The microphone costs $14.00 US and is available in black or white.

Read More [via TFTS]

YouTube Video Uploads from Mobiles Increased by 400%


YouTube announced that since the launch of the iPhone 3G S, they have seen a 400% increase in video uploads from mobile devices. The new iPhone 3G S allows users to record videos and directly upload it to YouTube from the device itself.

This growth represents three things coming together: new video-enabled phones on the market, improvements to the upload flow when you post a video to YouTube from your phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows your videos to be quickly and effortlessly shared through your social networks. It takes just a minute to connect your YouTube account to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts. Complete a simple, one-time connection on our upload page to allow all your friends and followers to get a real-time stream of your uploads to YouTube, which can be essential in this age of citizen reporting and ubiquitous sharing.


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WWDC Live Blog Tomorrow – New 4g iPhone

Tomorrow is the big day! As you can see on the right, there are only a few hours left until the big announcement. What?s going to be announced? Well, I have my opinions?
I?m pretty confident that the name of the 3rd iPhone will be called ?iPhone Video?. There?s strong evidence in the iPhone 3.0 Beta firmwares to support this:
This screenshot seems pretty real to me. It would make total sense to have one app run both the still image camera and the video camera. Just toggling the switch into video mode would change the button to a red dot kinda like the red light on the front of most video cameras.
There?s a lot more that goes along with video, one of the best is a new camera/lens. A big rumor is an upgrade to the camera to 3.2MP and the addition of auto focus. This would be really nice for me because right now I carry a DSLR and a Flip Video along with my iPhone. I would like the iPhone to replace the Flip. I doubt it will ever replace the big digital camera. I NEED ZOOM!
Other screenshots show MobileMe video features and even one with buttons that allow for minor editing of the video right on the iPhone. A big wish of mine is the front facing camera to make video phone calls. This seems to good to be true. Maybe someday with the 4G/LTE network. I really do think there will be video recording with the new iPhone.
There are rumors of physical changes to the device too. One is replacement of the chrome bezel to black. I?m not sure why Apple would do this. Both first iPhones have the chrome. Not really a big deal to me but I guess it?s false. Another thing I don?t think is going to happen is the rubberized back. I used to have a incase rubber case for my iPhone, and while it did help me hold onto he iPhone, it made it hard to get in and out of my pocket. I think Apple will continue to resort to cases to allow the user to customize them.
There are all kinds of rumors flying around about the price of the next set of iPhones. The biggest one is a $99 4GB model. This would be a big seller for the device, but the monthly plan is the bigger concern too. There are, of course, rumors about the data plans becoming cheaper too. I think the $99 iPhone is very likely (with a 2 year contract of course). Data plans changing would be nice, but anything less than unlimited SMS/MMS and Data are not going to happen with me.
Standard feature upgrades like more battery life, speed, memory, storage, OS update all seem expected.
Some final features for our list may be good ideas, but I just don?t see happening. They include a glowing Apple logo on the back, dedicated shutter button, background running apps, Adobe flash, 802.11n, FM Transmitter and a compass. How about the return of Steve Jobs? (also a rumor)
I?m sure there are more and more but we?ll get to that tomorrow. We?ll be live blogging all the info we can get, tomorrow, noon central time. Goodnight, sweet dreams.

iPhone to be Available on Monday in Apple Stores?!

Apple may make limited quantities of the new iPhone available at Apple stores on Monday, June 8th, according to a GearLive report.

Yes, you will be able to pick up the next version of the iPhone on Monday, if you get to an Apple Store before they sell out.

GearLive says that the new device will be available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB models. They believe a 4GB model is in the works; however, it won’t be sold at Apple Stores. The report confirms many of the previous rumors such as: auto-focus camera, compass, two cameras (one on front one on back), and a faster processor.

So, why do I believe the new iPhone Video will be released on Monday? Well, iPhone betas were coming out hot and heavy every couple of weeks, and stopped after beta 5. I am totally convinced that iPhone 3.0 is done, and ready to be made available at WWDC.

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New iPhone 4G Releases July 17, 2009

iPhones rumors are nevertheless hyped as any celebrity scandals. And the latest to hit the rumor mills is of a new iPhone ?ready to go on sale? as early as July 17, 2009. Now, you call that another rumor that would soon bite the dust or the tight-lipped policy of Apple Inc. to leak, yet step back from spilling the beans altogether. The seeds of this rumor might be linked to the fact that Apple Inc. might like to follow its tradition of releasing a new iPhone version mid-summer every year.
The tongues went wagging and the news spread like wildfire, when rumors spilled from a post in AppleiPhoneApps.com revealing a possible third generation iPhone release. The post even cited a possible date – Friday, July 17, 2009, quoting ?inside sources? from Apple development team. The website has also quoted that the present price tags of $199 and $299 will remain.
New iPhone Specifications – What to expect
There are also reports of a few changes in the external look of the new iPhone. Apart from reports of the metal band around the edge of the device ?gone missing?, the new device is believed to have a comparatively sleeker design with a rubber-tread backing.
Moreover, the rear of the phone will also sport a glowing Apple logo.
The new iPhone is stated to offer 32GB storage capacity.
Although there is no confirmation yet on the price, rumors are rife that the 16GB and 32GB storage is priced at $199 and $299 respectively.
The short battery life in the current iPhone version is believed to be one of the bigger flaws in this highly popular device. The battery life of the new iPhone is believed to be 1.5 times greater than the original Palm Pre
Apart from doubling of the RAM to 256MB, the processor speed is also expected to be twice as fast from the current 412MHz clock speed to 600MHz. iPhone enthusiasts are hopeful about the inclusion of background processing too.
Possible inclusion of 3.2-megapixel camera, for taking clear pictures; along with functions like video-recording and editing.
The new iPhone with iPhone 3.0 software update will most likely allow iPhone users send pictures and videos via MMS.
Built-in FM transmitter is probably one of the most anticipated features to look forward in the new iPhone. Another expected feature is the OLED screen.

? Another enviable feature in the new iPhone is said to be that of a built-in compass and the GPS, camera, compass and Google map combined will functions like ?identify photo? and ?inform about photo locations?.
? The new device allowing turn-by-turn directions is another feature iPhone users are looking up to.
Confirmation expected…
All eyes are now set on Monday, June 8, 2009 for further details on the new iPhone when Apple Inc. Vice President Phil Schiller will give out a keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WDC) in San Francisco. While another theory doing the rounds related to the release of the new iPhone is in anticipation of Apple?s affinity to schedule significant releases in the magic month of July. And analysts are hopeful that a formal announcement is on the cards following the return of CEO Steve Jobs to Apple Inc.
Industry analysts are optimistic that release of the new iPhone would drive demand as it has on other release of the earlier versions. Although, IPhone sales represent about 11% of Apple’s last quarterly revenue, and the Q1 report for the current shows a 123% rise in sales, the new iPhone is expected to steer the smartphone giant clear out of recession blues. And the results are already showing on the Apple Inc. shares, which have risen 43% until now this year, somewhat in anticipation of Apple releasing a new iPhone sometime this year.

New iPhones Approved from 4GB to 32GB?

Apple has received approval by the PCS Type Review Certification Board for 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB iPhones, according to an Engadget report.

We’re hearing from a trusted source that new iPhones in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities just garnered approval by the PCS Type Review Certification Board, the standards body responsible for certificating handsets for use with some carriers (AT&T, for instance). If true, this would lend credence to the belief that Apple will be introducing at least two new models this summer — ostensibly at WWDC, until we’re told otherwise.

This information is particularly interesting since a possible leak of Fido’s roadmap for 2009 shows evidence of a 4GB iPhone 3G with video calling (iChat) for $99.

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Carphone Warehouse Adds 4 New iPhone Models to their Inventory!

AppleInsider reports that Carphone Warehouse, an authorized iPhone distributor in the UK, has added 4 new iPhones to its inventory screen with the names of iPhone16GbV3 Black, iPhone16GbV3 White, iPhone32GbV3 Black and iPhone32GbV3 White. This confirms the iPhone will be coming in a 16GB and 32GB storage capacity with 2 different colors to choose from. The rumored 4GB iPhone will most likely not be seen in stores but there still might be a slight chance.

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Next Generation iPhone with iChat Video Calling!

BoyGeniusReport has recently written an article which showed the possibility of Video Calling with iChat in the next generation iPhone. The image above shows a list of features that will be available in the new iPhone. According to the image above, it actually does include Video Calling with iChat in the list and for those that don’t know, Fido is a mobile carrier.

Although the image does include Video Calling in the list, BoyGeniusReport says that it is very far away from being able to confirm.

  • The most notable slide has to do with a 4GB iPhone 3G. While there is a huge disclaimer that the image isn?t the device itself, the slide depicts a 4GB iPhone model that will run for $99 and come with quad-band EDGE, tri-band HSDPA, a 2 megapixel shooter and, believe it or not, iChat video calling (oh hi, front-facing camera).


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Next Generation iPhone to be Available in 4GB to 32GB?

A report from Engadget states that Apple will be supplying the new iPhone in 4 different models ranging from 4GB to 32GB.

  • 4GB to 32GB — that’s one hell of a range, but we’re hearing from a trusted source that new iPhones in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities just garnered approval by the PCS Type Review Certification Board, the standards body responsible for certificating handsets for use with some carriers (AT&T, for instance).

Previous rumors which indicated that Apple may be differentiating iPhone models by software could possibly be knocked out from the fact that having different softwares for such a low storage capacity would be highly unlikely.

Digg!