Using force touch Apple Watch can provide the user with new user interactions and offers an unobtrusive way to access menu within an app or even change watch faces. According to AppleInsider’s report which cites people familiar with the matter, Apple could be looking at including the same ‘force touch’ technology in the upcoming ‘iPhone 6s’.

While describing the technology Apple refers to force touch as the “most significant new sensing capability since Multi‑Touch”. Apple introduced multi-touch technology first on the iPhone, then on the iPad and it was also extended to its trackpad. The company is known to offer unified user interface across all its devices so it is possible that after Apple Watch iPhone 6s could be the next device featuring the new technology.

It is interesting to note that the report mentions that Apple was working on including the technology even on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus however, due to technical reasons it was scheduled for inclusion in the next iPhone. It is possible that with phone screens getting bigger, sensing force could be a great way to add contextual menu’s in the middle of the screen to avoid stretching your thumb all the way to the top.

Apple is holding ‘spring forward’ special media event on March 9 where the company is widely expected to announce Apple Watch apps, availability and pricing. As the watch becomes available sometime in April we will have to wait and see how ‘force touch’ can change the way we interact with touch based interfaces.

Apple released the Smart Cover with the iPad 2 early last year and since then the cover has become a model for numerous third party accessory makers who have developed their own versions. However, according to a patent application put out by the United States Patent & Trademark Office, it appears that Apple is looking to take the technology in the Smart Cover one step further.

Since then publicizing of the patent, speculation on the web suggests that a new Smart Cover with a flexible AMOLED display, and even solar panels and a keyboard may be part of Apple’s upgrade to the cover. The touchscreen display on the cover is expected to display information such as emails, messages, and calendar events.The patent suggests that the inner cover would double as a keyboard and could house other technology such as a solar panel and the outer edge would have the ability to control other media such as music with pause and play controls.

According to Apple’s explanation in the patent, the Multi-Touch display in the cover “greatly enhances the overall functionality of the tablet device”. Considering that the current Smart Cover connects to the iPad via magnets, the Smart Cover in the patent would likely have to have some form of inductive charging to power the display and pull up information.

The patent lists the inventor of the tech as Fletcher Rothkopf, currently a product manager at Apple but has also dealt with design and iPod engineering. With this new Smart Cover, Apple can very well revolutionize what cases can do on a device and instead of being just a protective covering and an afterthought, can actually assist in the functionality of the device itself.

{via 9to5Mac}

Apple’s iPod nano adopted a new form factor in late 2010, stripping the popular music player of its scroll wheel and replaced it with a small multi-touch screen, with apps for music, radio, and podcasts. Although the new design gave the iPod nano a revamp and introduced a better option for browsing music, many users complained that the device still lacked some of the features that it once had, such as a video camera, and video playback. Japanese site, Macotakara now reports that Apple is planning yet another redesign of the iPod nano line.

According to the report, the next gen iPod nano will carry a larger rectangular display and a home button, similar to the one found on all iOS devices. The screen, although larger than the current generation, would still be relatively smaller than other iOS devices, and as a result, would not run iOS apps. Apple will likely create a new OS for the device and add on a skin to resemble iOS. The report also goes on to mention that Apple may bring a “dedicated new iTunes Service” to the device, however, it remains unclear exactly what that would be.

Apple’s iPod nano has gone through many major redesigns since its first generation, with Apple adding a camera and then removing it in the latest generation. Apple’s 8th generation design was rumored to receive a camera, with images of a camera hole in the clip of the Nano, however, Apple likely scrapped those plans for this new design. This new design makes sense for a number of reasons; a redesign would help increase iPod sales which have been in decline for several quarters, the last two generations of iPod nano have had the same design, and this design would help Apple synchronize its product lines and make multi-touch the focal point.

If Apple released this new design later in the year, iPod nano users would see more functionality with a larger screen, a camera, and a tailored iTunes service.

{via MacRumors}

Alongside the new iPad, Apple also announced the availability of iPhoto for iPad, an app that was only available to Mac users in the past. Apple has updated all of their apps to take advantage of the new Retina Display in the new iPad, and also released updates to iMovie and GarageBand.

With iPhoto, Apple will now be offering a solution for photo organization on the iPad and editing of those photos. iPhoto for iPad offers a number of photo editing features including auto-enhancements such as straightening photos and fixing contrast. Brush palettes are also included with editing tools, ranging from red-eye removal, lighten, sharpen, soften, and darken. Images of up to 19 megapixels can be edited or viewed on iPhoto.

iPhoto, Apple’s popular photography app, has been completely reimagined for iOS to take full advantage of the Retina display and intuitive Multi-Touch gestures on iPad and iPhone. Simple gestures can be used to select and compare photos side by side and flag your best shots. iPhoto gives you full control over color, exposure and contrast, and you simply touch the parts of the image you want to change. You can enhance pictures by adding beautiful Apple-designed effects with just a tap, or apply adjustments exactly where you want them with fingertip brushes. In addition to posting photos to Facebook, Flickr and Twitter, you can beam photos between your iPhone and iPad; stream photos and slideshows to your Apple TV with AirPlay; and use iCloud to publish photo journals to the web and share your stories with friends and family in a whole new way.

iPhoto for iPad joins iMovie and GarageBand for iPad in the App Store and is be available for $4.99.

On Thursday, Apple held a special education event in New York City and introduced a number of software products, including the newest version of iBooks, iBooks 2, bringing textbooks to the iPad from large publishers including Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton-Mifflin.

Now anyone can create stunning iBooks textbooks, cookbooks, history books, picture books, and more for iPad. All you need is an idea and a Mac. Start with one of the Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. Add your own text and images with drag-and-drop ease. Use Multi-Touch widgets to include interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations, 3D objects, and more. Preview your book on your iPad at any time. Then submit your finished work to the iBookstore with a few simple steps. And before you know it, you’re a published author.

Apple also released an iBooks Author application, which allows users to create their own textbooks for the iPad 2. Since then, Apple has posted the video of the event to its site, alongside all other past events.

The Cupertino company also posted the Podcast for the event in both HD and standard formats. Apple is continuously increasing support for iBooks and is attempting to move into the e-reading market to compete with other popular reading devices such as the Nook and Kindle.

On Thursday, Apple announced, at a special education event in New York City that they have updated the iBooks application to iBooks 2 for iPad to accommodate interactive textbooks, something that has remained unchanged for generations. Apple is looking to redefine the usgae and distribution of textbooks and information, and is using its already available iBookStore and bracnhing out.

Introducing iBooks 2 — now with iBooks textbooks.

– Experience gorgeous Multi-Touch textbooks designed for iPad
– iBooks textbooks are filled with interactive features, diagrams, photos, and videos
– Tap to dive into images with interactive captions, rotate 3D objects, swipe through image galleries, watch videos in full screen, and more
– Use a finger as a highlighter when swiping over text in a textbook
– Take advantage of Study Cards to help you memorize important highlights, notes, and glossary terms
– Tap glossary terms to see definitions of key topics and concepts without leaving the page

With the addition of textbooks in iBooks 2, Apple is trying to make textbooks into what the App Store is today, by increasing reliance on Apple’s services to get books and materials for students. This is very similiar to how Apple created the iTunes Store, revolutionizing music, and the App Store.

Apple is currently partnering with McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which are responsible for 90% of textbook sales in the United States. McGraw-Hill and Pearson are releasing several titles for the iPad today and will be releasing more as time progresses.

Prices of textbooks range from $14.99 or less and allow authors of the textbooks to add information as they like through their ‘iBooks Author’ app which allows users to create their own textbooks. iBooks, which caused a small stir during its introduction and is slowly picking up as a major part of Apple’s education movement.

iBooks 2 is currently available in the App Store as an update to the current application.

Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior [rating: 4.5/5]

I often found that with fighting games many people who find their favourite version stick with it. If you liked Mortal Kombat you didn’t like Street Fighter and if you liked either of those you wouldn’t like Tekken. I think this was more due to the control systems on each game that varied slightly and once you were used to one it was difficult to move to the other.

The fighting genre has never been hugely successful on the iPhone yet, partly due to the touch screen controls or the less than perfect graphics but now there is a serious challenger in the form of Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from game developers Indiagames Ltd.

Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior is a 3D fighting game which leans on the martial arts side of fighting which is no surprise given the martial arts star who lends his name to the title.

The first thing you’ll notice about Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior are the beautiful graphics. From the motion captured characters including Bruce Lee himself to the multiple gorgeous locations that ooze quality and while the environments cannot be directly interacted with they are animated which add extra depth to the graphics.

Just as in life a game needs more than looks to be successful, Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior does not disappoint here either. The controls are simple enough, a virtual d-pad along with two action buttons to kick and punch are all you need and combinations for these buttons over a large variety of moves.

Not all moves and combos are available from the start but as you progress through the game additional moves become unlocked and enable you to grow your character the more you play.

While the controls are easy to pick up they will take a while to master especially some of the special and end moves that took me a while to accomplish. This is not all bad though as it keeps the challenge going and always provides you with a target.

There are multiple ways to play the game too. First, there is the story mode which is how you unlock most of the additional characters, moves and artwork! This mode combines a variety of challenges, from one on one fights, survival matches, where you have to fight multiple opponents in a row with only limited energy gains between matches, and tournament.

Completing these challenges help you progress through the game and earn you XP enabling you to level up and unlock the previously mentioned items.

After unlocking the moves you can assign them to your character so that you can customize him to your own preferences, this degree of control is nice and enables you to have some control over the style of your character.

All of the game-types that you get to play through the story mode are also available to play individually as well which adds additional value to the game. That’s before you even consider the 30+ achievements detailed statistics and artwork that includes stills from Bruce Lee’s movies.

The only thing missing for me from this game is a local multi-player which would enable you to fight your friends not to mention an online multi-player which would make your very own dojo!

Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior is a very accessible fighting game that pushes the iPhone and shows what is possible when a developer puts time, effort and energy into a game. If you want a great looking fighting game that will keep you occupied for a decent amount of time get yourself over to the App Store and spend three dollars on this great game.

Pros

• 10 perfectly motion captured characters
• Beautiful environments
• Multiple ways to play
• Lots to unlock

Cons

• Controls take practice
• Steep learning curve
• No multi-player

Reviewed on an iPhone 4

Price: $2.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released:May 20, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.0
Size: 84.7 MB
Language:English
Seller:IGFUN LLC
© Bruce Lee Enterprises, LLC 2010. All Rights Reserved
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

Osmos for iPhone [rating: 5/5]

Osmos has received a wealth of critical acclaim, and has been around for a while on desktop computers. I actually only heard of it myself though when it hit the iPad. Osmos could very easily be pigeon holed with the likes of the Playstion 3 game, flOw. But whilst that is partially true, Osmos also brings a wealth of innovation, and touch screen goodness along for the ride.

Review

At its very core Osmos has a simple principal throughout. You are a small blue organism, and anything bigger than you is generally reddish. If it’s bigger than you it eats, or absorbs you. Otherwise you absorb it. Absorbing is done so beautifully that you can even become fascinated by your own demise! As organisms consume each other they glow where they are touching and slowly inflate or deflate.. until its curtains for one.

Movement costs you energy, which is taken from your mass. So the more, and the faster you move, the smaller you get.

Mostly, you need to get big to win. And whilst you are trying to get big, so are the myriad other organisms in your world.

Geeks amongst us will recognise Osmos as a kind of game of life.

In many ways I feel that Osmos has found its true home on the iPhone. The way you control your organism feels best suited to a touch interface, over and above that of the mouse. And actually touching the creature you are trying to keep alive, as well as its environment serves to draw you into the world all the more.

Pinch zooming your environment to reveal just how small you are in a living microcosm of cells, all striving slowly to absorb one another, is quite humbling on some levels. And you seem to go on a journey each time you play a different one of Osmos’ variety of levels and game-types. Each time trying to advance from pin prick to world dominating doughnut that devours all around it. But each time in a level with a new and interesting twist.

Each “journey” is helped by the trance like zen state you enter as you listen to the level specific ambient tracks that come with the game, and watch your organism’s life trajectory slide towards “bigness” or disaster.

This is not a game played against the clock. Although sometimes inaction will cost you. Gravity can be a factor. As can patience. Inertia certainly comes into play. What is really refreshing, though, is the way the game changes up the level types you play as you progress though its Odyssey levels – which are kind of an extended tutorial.

After that you have a range of arcade levels, which are all variants on levels from the Odyssey. If you’ll forgive another analogy, Osmos is a bit like a box of chocolates. You will certainly have favourites in the box of levels. And some that you are not so keen on too. But you’ll enjoy all of them to some degree. Luckily you also do get to choose to play your favourite levels as much as you like.

My personal favourites are the levels where you start as the smallest organism in the world, with literally hundreds of different sized organisms all around you, crammed together like commuters in a tube train at rush hour. Some are initially the size of buildings, when compared to you. Zooming into the tiny dot that is you is like one of those shots from a movie where we descend towards the surface of a planet from space. Once you have pinch-zoomed down to a level where you can see some smaller cells around you to go after, you are all of a sudden in the thick of the action. And sometimes it’s not long before you seem to have descended into the screen of your iPhone yourself. Particularly if it’s your iPhone 4’s Retina Display!

I have not played Osmos on the iPad. But by all accounts it is superb on that too. For me though, Osmos is a game that I want to dip into often, and over a long period of time. So having it on your iPhone with you all of the time serves that usage pattern much better for me then on a desktop machine, or even my iPad.

Osmos is not a 5 minute snack. However, it can be played that way. But what I mean is that even if you eventually go back and redo levels, there are unique solutions each time. And solving them for the first time, or over again is uniquely satisfying each time, like completing a Rubics Cube. So it is a game that has fantastic replay longevity, and you can either pick up for 5 minutes every now and then, once you’ve got the gameplay. Or can descend into a hedonistic waste of an entire day with!

I have to confess to having several multi hour sessions when I first learned to play Osmos. All at home. On my sofa. All when I had work to do! Only finally putting the game down reluctantly when I realised that it was almost time to get up for the next day…

If you don’t buy games for your iPhone. But would like one, Osmos is it. If you like games generally then Osmos is one of those unique ones that you should own.

So go buy it!

Pros

• Intuitive and innovative use of touch screen for simple menu options.
• Beautiful smooth graphics with depth.
• Level Progression & Level Play Options: Odyssey and Arcade modes are a great format.
• Slick presentation from top to bottom.
• The Music.

Cons

• There are a couple of ambient tracks that are not to my liking.
• No Osmos 2 yet!

Price: $2.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released: Aug 05, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.6.2
Size: 18.8 MB
Language: English
Seller: Hemisphere Games Inc
© 2008 Hemisphere Games, Inc.
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later.

The store attendant gleefully told me that iPhone 4’s are sold out across the world. His smile dropped a little as I pulled my own iPhone 4 from my pocket. I was of no further interest to him so he moved on to the next customer.

His pricing for the devices does tend to reflect the supply chain news that we are hearing for Apple’s latest hot products.

iPhone 4 supplies are expected to be constrained until sometime in August. But analysts still expect Apple to sell over 10 Million units by then. By year end the same analysts are suggesting that Apple will sell 40 Million of more iPhones.

But Apples manufacturing partners are operating as fast as they possibly can simply to keep up with demand for the latest iPhone, as well as the the previous generation iPhone 3GS which is also still selling in large numbers.

The iPad supply chain seems to be under less pressure now. And that makes sense as it is now where the iPhone supply chain will be in August / September in terms of throughput stability.

Estimates for iPad sales in the June Quarter are now slightly up at 3.5 Million units. And the end of year estimate is for around 10 Million iPads in total.

Manufacturers involved in the production of the iPad for Apple in Taiwan seem on target to deliver 2 million units in July, and through each subsequent month for the foreseeable future.

The number of WiFi only and 3G units sold to date seems to be fairly evenly split, at 58% of sales going to 3G and 42% to WiFi.

Have you got your iPad or your iPhone 4 yet? Or are you still waiting? Let us know in the comments..

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