Tech Gadgets Reviews

iPhone game developers have another option for implementing their titles on Apple’s popular portable. GarageGames has announced it intends to offer the Torque engine for the platform.

Rather than giving you a complete alternative to the Apple SDK it looks like they have taken the best bits from the official SDK and used them alongside Torque to offer something better.

For those that haven’t heard of GarageGames before; they offer the Torque engine for independent developers. Originally just for the PC, it now supports XNA, Wii and has a Game Builder version for 2D games development. All versions of the engine have access to a scripting language, real-time editor and a host of tools for making asset imports a simple task.

At time of writing there seems to be no schedule laid out for when Torque iPhone edition will be released. A blog post by Brett Seyler of GarageGames just suggests that the engine is in beta and being optimized. Brett also explains why they decided to do an iPhone version:

Why do the iphone? That’s pretty easy to answer The iPhone is at its peak in terms of popularity, and now with the Apple Developer SDK open to anyone and the iTunes App Store hosting games, there’s a real path for indies to do very well with their games.

The good aspects of the Torque engine are that it offers a complete package of tools for you to develop games. It also is a proven engine used in many hundreds of games meaning it has been thoroughly stress-tested. I think, if they price this version of the engine right, we are going to see a lot more bedroom coders try out the iPhone platform.

Read more at Gamasutra.com

While we are seeing delays on the blackberry Bold being reported just about everywhere, Australian carrier Telstra has announced they will be offering it beginning in late-September.

While that timeframe is still a little while away, and still no specific release date has been announced there is a little bit of good news coming along with this announcement.

Telstra also mentioned that their business customers will be able to grab the Bold when it goes on sale for free. Those business customers will also be able to “register their interest” beginning today by visiting the Telstra website or calling 1800BUSINESS.

Read [Telstra]

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Word on the street has it that the upcoming Lenovo IdeaPad will come with the following features and specifications :-

• 14.1″ WXGA display
• 2GB RAM
• 160GB hard drive
• Vista Home Basic
• DVD burner
• NVIDIA 256MB GeForce 9300M GS
• Wi-Fi connectivity

Don’t take our word for it that this is the final list of specifications, and your guess is as good as mine when it comes to pricing. Strange that there is no SSD option.

Gmail users may know that Google has always offered an encrypted option through the https address https://mail.google.com. However, up until now the use of that encrypted version has only been available by manually entering the address. The reason for that, according to the company, is because using an encrypted connection for your mail can slow things down.

Google has now made it much simpler to always use an encrypted Gmail connection. To enable https access you just need to visit the Settings page in Gmail and select it, then even if you type the http version you will get connected to the https version meaning you are always secure - you don’t even have to update your bookmarks.

The decision to add this option is being seen as a response to the growth in public computer access and public wireless connections such as those found in coffee shops or airports. As these are public, a secure connection is much more desirable to most users.

Google is enabling the new option in accounts as we speak, but it may not be available for your account yet. In order to check just visit your Settings page and check for the option. Some services will also not support it yet, such as Google Toolbar, which can connect to Gmail.

Read more at The Official Gmail Blog

Matthew’s Opinion
Secure connections are becoming much more important because of the way we are using our machines. Laptops seem to be everywhere and it has been a while since I walked into a coffee shop and not seen a laptop in use. Internet access points are also becoming more widespread with most major cities having shops dedicated just to Internet access and hundreds of machines dotted around airports.

I use secure connections whenever I can as it is worth the extra security for diminished speed. To be honest I have never noticed any effect on speed when using https instead of http for the same sites.

It’s not a stretch to say that Red Steel was one of the most anticipated titles to come out for the Nintendo Wii. It’s also not at all a stretch to say that there was a lot of disappointment once it debuted on the same day as the Wii. The game claimed to make a very big innovation in the FPS genre–1:1 motion controls. Gamers wanted to wield a sword or gun just as they would in real life, and Ubisoft (the game’s publisher) acted like that was exactly what they were doing. To an extent, the game delivered. For instance, a gun could be turned sideways if you were so inclined and aiming was pretty spot on. The swordplay was another beast. Players that expected to be jumping around their living room, defending themselves from vicious thrusts and parries, were instead met with an incredibly anti-climatic experience.

Fast forward to Nintendo’s 2008 E3 keynote and the introduction of the MotionPlus accessory, which supposedly gives better control to the Wii remote. While many publishers felt snubbed by the new piece of hardware (because they didn’t know it existed until we did), Ubisoft is taking the right approach. Alain Corre, Ubisoft’s executive director, acknowledged the usefulness of the new product and how it could help Red Steel 2’s success.

“Red Steel 2 has been in development for many months now, and this new device will help us be even more precise in what we do with the product”

Of course, the title hasn’t even been officially announced and this new information means that it’s going to be delayed a bit more, but that’s not what’s important. What is important is that when it does come out, we’re all going to be fighting with very precise swords.

Read more at GamesIndustry.biz

Samsung’s P2 digital audio player isn’t unique by any means, but Samsung has released a special edition model known as the Seo Tai-Ji P2. Named after a Korean rock star, this new P2 will come with a new graphical user interface, icons, tones and an equalizer without having you to fork out additional dough. Gotta love the packaging on this thing, although the environmental impact will be there if millions of this are sold like hot cakes. The Samsung Seo Tai-Ji P2 was released to commemorate the rock star’s 8th album that will roll out tomorrow.

iD Software supremo John Carmack has leaked information that his company is working on something very special for the iphone, and it won’t have anything to do with Doom this time round. Carmack was pretty disappointed that his team’s efforts could not be ready in time for the App Store launch, but rest assured the final product will by a “graphical tour de force”, according to the man himself. Could Carmack’s ability to code superior games on the iPhone signal the death knell for Nintendo’s DS Lite and Sony’s PSP? I don’t think so - not yet, anyway.

Panasonic has released a new cell phone in the Japanese market - the MIRROR II 824P handset. This HSDPA-enabled phone will be available through SoftBank, and it probably won’t see the light of day outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. Features of the MIRROR II 824P include :-

• 3? internal QVGA LCD screen
• T-DMB support
• 2 megapixel camera with auto focus and shake-reduction functions
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot

No idea on how much this will cost, but you can choose from Midnight Purple, Crystal Silver, Deep Pink, Champagne Gold and Ruby Red colors.

FROM GAMERTELL - Comic-Con 2008 started off (July 24, 2008) with a bang as Will Wright took to the podium to deliver his keynote. Wright talked about personal interests, Spore, Spore OCmic Book Creator and more…
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D-Link lays claim to being the first manufacturer to roll out green home network WiFi routers which are able to save up to 40% in your monthly power bill. They’re smart enough to detect cable length and link status, adjusting the power level accordingly so that you don’t have to pay more than you really should. In addition, individual routers can also be programmed to turn the Wi-Fi radio off whenever you don’t need it so that power can be saved - this is the lazy man’s way instead of walking to the power outlet and turning the switch off manually. The new routers with this green technology include the D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router DIR-665, Xtreme N Duo Media Router DIR-855 and the Xtreme N Gaming Router DGL-4500.