Voxel Render Engine for PS3 SDK

Hello Everyone!!

Long time I have not been here, not even to check if someone is trying to spam comments all around. Well, the good news it is that today I wanted to release my Master Thesis, which was about a way to display voxelized models using the PS3 SDK.

I did not do it before because I was "under NDA", an agreement between Newcastle University and SCE Europe. however I think by this time, they do not care anymore about releasing key points and ideas about what my document is about.

Droid vs iOS

Technology history has always been full of constant friction between users of different platforms, programming languages​​, operating systems, etc. And mobile technology has no exception, and is currently users of iOS and Android keep a dispute "according to each" who owns the best and most popular mobile operating system at the time.

We can see those discussions on forums, social networks, websites, always favor some comments about the other carrying the stereotypes of each and making a mockery of the weaknesses of each operating system. But really what does it say the operating system you use you? This is what we try to solve the following graphics by Hunch.

FastPost: Apple Airplay

I watched this video and I realized of the capabilities of Airplay technology coming for the iOS 5, simple amazing.

I totally suggest to keep watching it until the end, I know that 10 minutes is a long time, but it worth it.

iOS 5 for Developers

Many news came with the official announcement of the fifth iteration of one of the most advanced mobile operative systems: iOS (previously called iPhoneOS don't forget). Things like messaging, offline reading, cloud synchronization and notifications will be bundle along the september update, meanwhile, we, as developers must learn and relearn the APIs released, which Apple says are more than 1,500.

Of course, we will learn them by the time goes on, however, there is a list of the most noticeable to take note of:

Sphero or trading control ways

iOS SDK allows programmers explode their imagination with many technologies and tools that are provided just out of the box. Now, I want to show you a simple toy called Sphero.

Also, with smarphones, the gameplay possibilities are endless, especially when you add another physical object such as a helicopter or a remote controlled car. Let me add one more to the list, a ball that we can control from the iOS device, be it the iPad or iPhone. Check this out:

iOS & Android vs PSP & NDS

Interesting cake graphics presented by Flurry Analytics guys, which shows the incidence and growth of Android and IOS for the US gaming market.

First, below is the income share for games on portable devices, where Android and IOS have greatly increased their percentage of the pie at the expense of a PSP and (especially) Nintendo DS to be left behind.

ASLR

Mobile devices, as computers, time by time concern more about security. Due to unstoppable increase in processing power, classical encryption methods and security procedures are pushed until their protection limits until cracked, of course many other ways to improve known weaknesses are worked out, that's what I would like to talk you about.

ASLR, in other words, Address Space Layout Randomization, which is a security method to rearrange memory addresses at runtime for key data spaces: executables, library pointers, heap, stack, between the most importants pieces of code.

Do You Want To Create A Game??

If you already have decided, but you don't know where is a good point to start, well here I am going to suggest few links that could help to choose the path for iOS Game Development:

Cocos2D: Games are complex, even the easy ones, that's where Cocos2D is here for help. This is a development framework for 2D games.

Ray Wenderlich Blog: In order to start, first we must know how to use it, that's why in this blog you could find many tutorials. Check the one for Box2D, which is a physics engine.

iOS 4.3 with multitouch gestures

Apple continues with the development of iOS, as well as the improving of the User Interface with interactions that changes the way of managing all the resources inside the device. iOS 4.3 can come up with many innovations, especially given the features that were released a few days ago, specifically something is calling enough attention, that is multitouch gestures.

Of course, this 4.3 has not been public released, nonetheless developers can take hands on with private releases so that Apple can have feedback about the intention to publish those new features. The multitouch gestures are activated using four or five fingers down to return to the main screen, left or right to switch between applications and a move up to show open applications. These gestures have been in the beta of 4.3 for iPad iOS, so the question was whether the iPhone would have this capability.

Here is a video of those running on the iPad:

Mac App Store: Positive and Negative

One million downloads in just one day. This is the key sentence for the projected success of this new store launched by Apple. To give a view as objective as possible, I found few points to summarize what are the positive and negative aspects of this store:

How's doing the App Store

Right now, the Apple App Store has more than 300,000 developed bundles into theirs servers. According to IDC, the App Store will have 300,000 applications by the end of next year. Looking at the history, that looks pretty good in a chart, except IDC is predicting even faster growth for Google’s Android Market.

Apple Store has more games than 20 years of VideoGames

iOS currently has 3 times more games than 25 years cumulative consoles. The last chart shows that the 42,000 games that are within the 300,000 apps available up to day on the App Store, outnumbering (and quite long), the sum of 17,150 games representing NES, Master System, Genesis (Megadrive), SNES, PS1, N64, Saturn, Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Game Boy, Game Boy Advanced, DS and PSP (missing the Dreamcast, although its 720 games make no significant change).

Graphic Mobile Software Development

Vision Mobile shows a info graph related with the software development for mobile devices (J2ME, iOS, Android, BB) and how they distribute this market. Among its most representative goals are:

- Android represent the smallest integrating prospective with five months.

- Is faster to offer direct downloads for Developers' IP instead of using app store, where this decreases the time-to-market.

- Close to 25% of developers do not reach their revenue goals comparing with 5% who exceeded revenue goals.

- Symbian's install base is six times bigger than iOS, however it just close to 5% of apps quantity.

No news with Windows Phone 7

There is nothing new that Android or iOS had made before. Nothing. From Talk Android, they share a comparative from PC World Magazine, which was carried out to the operating system's capabilities along with the huge facelift applied to it (compared with Windows mobile 6.5).

FastPost: iOS User Interface Dimensions

iOS management bars for normal resolution devices has this constants:

- Status bar: 20 pixels
- Nav bar: 44 pixels
- Tab bar: 49 pixels
- Toolbar: 44 pixels

Android Users upgrade more often

Bring into order the irrational number of versions for mobile OS that exists within the two dominant platforms (IOS and Android) is such a complicated task. Moreover, even ignorance by the user about advantages and obstacles that fix many manufacturers (see HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson) for supporting new OS versions for old devices, does not help. Nevertheless, according to a recent study by Localytics Android users are more likely to stay updated in comparison of iOS users.

The firm has compared the data statistics for the two smartphones that have been more updates this summer, and Droid Motorola and iPhone 3GS. Some facts to keep in mind is that Android 2.2 for Motorola Droid was released on August 12 this year, while IOS 4.0 was released on June 21. The findings indicate a clear and significant advantage in the number of updates registered by Android. After two weeks, 96% of users had upgraded to the new Droid Froyo, as opposed to 56% who had done the same for iOS 4. Even more, just couple of months after launch only 80 percent of iPhone 3GS users had updated their handsets (shown in the graphic above).

Apple Game Center

For sure many people are considering the iPhone/iPod Touch (along with IPAD) a growing market nowadays. Developers and companies sees that their business can be successful, examples like Angry Birds (over six and a half million downloads) are a true reflection.

Next week there will be the IOS 4.1 upgrade, and among the news will be the inclusion of so-called Game Center. Few developments are already working with the APIs that Apple release to integrate controlled multiplayer titles, with the main objective of enhance and make easier the collaborative online game, with some interesting ideas.

Console online gaming is already a staple and stably integrated advanced models, especially the Xbox Live, phones have even more potential because we carry them everywhere, so that the majority of casual game used in such devices propose to share items with friends.

August 2010 App Stores Report

Thanks to the company Distimo we have a report of how the most important application Stores for mobile phones are behaving. This document is available to anyone who wants to know a little more about, here and reports only the results in the United States. The summary of what's shows this document will be related to Apple App Store and Android Market.

It is interesting to read that the Android Market is the store with more free applications hosted in their servers, with the 60%, when we have and iPhone App store with the 29% of share and a 26% for the iPad App Store. This means that we could find more free apps in a Android Device than a iOS one, although most of those are not even worth downloading.

Prog: Accelerometer on iPhone/iPod Touch

In this post, I am going to talk about the accelerometer on the iPhone/iPod Touch and how to use it via SDK. The Wikipedia says that

An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, the acceleration experienced relative to freefall.

Well the accelerometer inside the device help us to detect the relative position in relation with the gravity, measuring the answer of the 3 movement axis: x, y and z, so this allow the device to detect its orientation (portrait, landscape, face up or down), a shake or the relative values in specific moment in time.

And accelerometer sensor is not only used on Phone devices, also many high end cameras uses for the image stabilization; the cars to detect the vehicle acceleration; watches for runners that include footpods; the Nintendo Wii with the accessory Wii Motion Plus or the six axis control of the PS3 includes one. Well let's talk about how to get the values of this sensor in side the iPhone/iPod.

iPod Touch 4G

Yesterdar, Apple had an event in San Francisco where were shown the updates prepared for their full line of iPods: Shuffle, Nano and Touch.

The images below shows the redesign of the Shuffle (once again with buttons) and Nano (now a really nano) without the the old fashion Click Wheel, which next in the list to disappear would be the iPod Classic for sure.

After a little review, we are going to review the iPhone without Phone: iPod Touch 4G: