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Outputting iPhone Apps to a TV: Moto Chaser Demo
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It would be great to be able to play the games on a larger screen like a gaming console. Also, if you were hooked up to surround sound, some of the racing games might seem more realistic.
I also would love to have larger controls on the iPhone screen. For example: If you were playing Cro-mag rally, you could have the game playing on the TV and have the entire iPhone screen as accelerate and reverse buttons. It would make the game seem like you were playing on a DS.
Why is there a need for a video adaptor?
Why is there a need for a video adaptor? Isn't it just a change in the firmware to allow Apps to send to the port? and hence the current composite or component cables could work?
Why is there a need for a video adaptor? Isn't it just a change in the firmware to allow Apps to send to the port? and hence the current composite or component cables could work?
As previously mentioned by a few posters isn't this just the API apple themselves have been using for their presentations? If this is the case it would have been there (but hidden) in all the previous versions of iPhone OS... And, if it's been there since the beginning, Apple has clearly not chosen to document or support it yet, so i'm not hopeful they will now.... I hope they do though as it clearly "does what it says on the tin" so would be minimal work by apple to include in the next release.... Seems odd though why they would not officially document (and allow others to use) such a powerful class?
wow your post has so many contradictions I don't think I even have to post a reply
anyways , I see you feel strongly about this subject ( seeing as how you went out of your way to photoshop an ad) ... you umm run with that man. later
I was thinking the same thing. It's got to be coming. This would make the phone a game console as well. As that needs to be done is added native resolution like how the movies/tv shows are.
As others have said, it could work with Macs as well.
Yes, applications have been availiable for both the iPhone and iPod touch since the App Store came out.
Is it just me or is the iPhone's tilt sensor ("accelerometer") far super to the Nintendo Wii's remote? Some iPhone games out there are really fun, solely because of the great input methods.
Now imagine you could control a video game on your TV with the iPhone (or iPod Touch). You would have decent control via tilting the device, but you could also tap the four display corners (button-replacement) and have the HUD (score, health, mini-map etc) on the iPhone screen. The buttons would even have context-sensitive labeling, so you immediately see what they're doing and can rearrange them at will, too.
For when you need to do keyboard input or precise cursor movement, you can just use the iPhone touch keyboard and tap on the screen. This makes sense for menus that are usually a pain to navigate on consoles (down, down, down, A, down, down, A, ...).
On the other hand, you wouldn't give your kids a gaming controller that is more expensive than the console itself, would you? It's also slippery if held with sweaty hands, unergonomic (for extended use) and probably can't take too much hard beating.
Now imagine you could control a video game on your TV with the iPhone (or iPod Touch). You would have decent control via tilting the device, but you could also tap the four display corners (button-replacement) and have the HUD (score, health, mini-map etc) on the iPhone screen. The buttons would even have context-sensitive labeling, so you immediately see what they're doing and can rearrange them at will, too.
For when you need to do keyboard input or precise cursor movement, you can just use the iPhone touch keyboard and tap on the screen. This makes sense for menus that are usually a pain to navigate on consoles (down, down, down, A, down, down, A, ...).
On the other hand, you wouldn't give your kids a gaming controller that is more expensive than the console itself, would you? It's also slippery if held with sweaty hands, unergonomic (for extended use) and probably can't take too much hard beating.
I have the Wii also. For some reason the iPod touch accelerometer does seem to function better than the Wii remote.
Another idea that I had thought of is to have a seperate conroller wirelessly to the Apple TV, so it would function more as it's own gaming system. Also, I don't think people would buy a $450 gaming system (both the iPod touch and Apple TV added together). People would want to buy a cheap gaming system about the price of the Wii or Xbox 360 (Apple TV & cheap remote with accelerometer and possibly some multi-touch.
There is nothing they can do to the AppleTV to make it appealing to the masses. They would have to create epic games that people would be able to download in a snap. Even then I would rather a mini in my living room it's a dvr,dvd player, game console, etc. Load up bootcamp play GTA4.
The ability to output is only going to be a gimmick in terms of games. I don't think once it is supported anybody will think about using it as a gaming device. More so to display presentation, surf the web on a bigger screen, type documents on a bigger screen etc.
The ability to output is only going to be a gimmick in terms of games. I don't think once it is supported anybody will think about using it as a gaming device. More so to display presentation, surf the web on a bigger screen, type documents on a bigger screen etc.
After seeing Glovepie and some other apps sync data of the Wiiremote, no
it's just the individual software implimentation, because you're far from the display most games have a large "dead zone" on the sensors. If you hook it up to a PC you can see it detects everything. Placing it on my desk the sensors still picked up on slight vibrations on the other side of the desk.
now this would be huge for the app store! i really hope this happens soon. it would help make the iphone a much bigger gaming threat, i believe
If Apple would update the Apple TV to support games found in the App Store for $10, they could make a fortune. Nintendo would not sell as many Wii's if Apple had a gaming console that is $20 cheaper and has the same game (hopefully with multi-touch) for $10 instead of $30 or $40.
You have no response
Go ahead enlighten me. What are the contradictions?
Apple cares more about selling hardware and iTunes store units, be they songs, TV shows, games or movies than giving consumers every feature they can think of for free.
So what sells more hardware and iTunes Store units?
a) Enabling the iPhone/iPod Touch to play video out on the TV
or
b) Enabling it only via AppleTV with better performing games
Option a = only marginal sales increase in iPhone/iPod Touch and appstore games, if you haven't noticed those things are selling no problems. Overall not much gain for Apple.
Option b = at least marginal sales increase in the AppleTV and a totally new product in the iTunes Store. Developers gain as well, they can sell essentially the same game twice.
I will take your assumption that I feel strongly about the whole deal based on the Photoshop job as a compliment, but it took me less than 5 min so no I don't really care that much.
Recap; I posted what sounded like a cool idea to me, you criticized it, I responded with my reasons why it would make sense for Apple, you bowed out with a lame so bad I cant even comment line.
Go ahead enlighten me. What are the contradictions?
Apple cares more about selling hardware and iTunes store units, be they songs, TV shows, games or movies than giving consumers every feature they can think of for free.
So what sells more hardware and iTunes Store units?
a) Enabling the iPhone/iPod Touch to play video out on the TV
or
b) Enabling it only via AppleTV with better performing games
Option a = only marginal sales increase in iPhone/iPod Touch and appstore games, if you haven't noticed those things are selling no problems. Overall not much gain for Apple.
Option b = at least marginal sales increase in the AppleTV and a totally new product in the iTunes Store. Developers gain as well, they can sell essentially the same game twice.
I will take your assumption that I feel strongly about the whole deal based on the Photoshop job as a compliment, but it took me less than 5 min so no I don't really care that much.
Recap; I posted what sounded like a cool idea to me, you criticized it, I responded with my reasons why it would make sense for Apple, you bowed out with a lame so bad I cant even comment line.
Don't forget the lack of HD video on the iPod Touch and iPhone.
The one feature I would like to see that should be easy for Apple but so far isn't present is Airtunes functionality. You should be able to play your iPod Touch's music collection over an Airtunes device like an AppleTV or Airport Express without having to connect any cables to it. They're both WiFi devices, after all, so there shouldn't be ANY issue doing so. And the same should be true in reverse. Your computer and/or AppleTV should be able to send a song to the iPod Touch to listen to. This would enable you to listen to songs at home with headphones in any room you like off your master library without having to store them on your iPod Touch (shared library mode would make sense). The only reason I can think of that Apple hasn't already included this option is that they want to MILK those iPod Dock stations and cable accessory sales for awhile...possibly forever (although one could argue it would promote the sale of AppleTV and/or Airport Express units in trade). You may never see the function. They make a LOT of money selling things like Mini-Display Port adapters for $99 to connect to a $199 display as is the case with the new Macbooks (and your ONLY other choice is to buy Apple's own much more expensive monitor since NO ONE ELSE uses it). Hey, wait a second...I think we just got iPWNed!
Looking at a game like this once again reminds me of all those people claiming that "The iPhone is capable of graphics that are as good as those on the PSP"... Come on - even the December 12. 2004 PSP release game Ridge Racer looks a million times better han Moto Chaser.
Oh, and the PSP Slim can output both music, games and movies to a TV - without taking a framerate hit. All you need is the official PSP Slim > TV component cable
I love my Touch - but as a serious games platform it simply doesn't have what it takes (neither in the control- nor in the graphics-department).
Oh, and the PSP Slim can output both music, games and movies to a TV - without taking a framerate hit. All you need is the official PSP Slim > TV component cable
I love my Touch - but as a serious games platform it simply doesn't have what it takes (neither in the control- nor in the graphics-department).
That underscores one of Apple's biggest PR problems as of late. They DON'T CARE what consumers WANT. They DICTATE TO consumers what they should buy. There's a BIG difference and sooner or later it WILL bite them in the butt again. They've had some luck predicting what consumers will want, but when they don't listen to their consumers they will inevitably lose them sooner or later. It's only a matter of time. I've sent them bug reports (some very easy to fix such as the rotation issue on iPhone/Touches (probably iTunes's fault when it resizes them) with EXIF data not being preserved resulting in portrait photos being turned the wrong direction) and I honestly believe they just throw them in the bit bucket trash can. They just don't give a crap so long as their devices keep on selling.
For me, it would be a subscription based model to tv shows and/or movies. Pay one monthly rate and watch as many shows and/or movies as you want. THAT would compete with cable and/or paid channels like HBO. As it is now, it BARELY competes with the DVD/Blu-Ray rental place down the street because movies keep being removed from "rental" status. Try to rent a Disney movie on AppleTV. Good luck. 95% of them are unavailable to rent including new movies like Wall-E. Certain movies like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull aren't available to rent in HD. "Must See HD" movies like "No Country For Old Men" haven't actually been available to RENT for MONTHS and MONTHS and YET they STILL APPEAR on the "Must See HD" lists. I've sent several feedback replies pointing this out to Apple and they haven't addressed it or even so much as sent me one courtesy e-mail to explain WHY it's on that must see HD list and yet isn't available to rent or why all the Pixar movies one day were suddenly not available to rent.
There are REASONS for these things happening and Apple doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that they don't have the clout to keep these movies around. That a five and dime DVD rental place down the street can still offer "Finding Nemo" to RENT and my high-tech modern AppleTV WiFi rental system CANNOT offer it to RENT is just ABYSMAL, IMO. You can rent the sequels to the Matrix, but not the original movie (it WAS available to rent for about one month and then changed to buy-only (in SD) for no apparent reason). Well, guess what? I already own it in SD. I MIGHT consider renting it (or better yet BUYING it if that were an option; but it is NOT) in HD since it looks so much better on my 93" screen that way, but tough luck. There are no such options. But given Apple Support's refusal to even respond to e-mails asking WHY things are happening, I have to simply say their support teams SUCK. NOTHING is worse than a support team that just IGNORES the problems reported. I even got an automated reply back asking me how my experience with support was and I reiterated the IGNORED ME and that reply too was ignored. Apple Support SUCKS PERIOD.
If Apple is unwilling to properly support products like AppleTV then why do they even bother to sell them in the first place? Nothing is worse than half-arsed attempts to market something they don't really have much interest in selling in the first place. Look at the Mac-Mini. Why not just pull the thing? It's completely outdated and with current specs, overpriced. If they're not going to update the thing, they should just delete it and say sorry, we only cater to the rich.
They MIGHT care in that situation because it would encourage people to buy more $50 accessories and Apple LOVES to sell you cables and what not because they're high profit items. That's why the new Macbook lines don't include any kind of mini-display port adapter. They'd rather SELL you one (same for the apple remotes that used to be included). And at $99, it's hardly a REASONABLE price for a cable that is 100% NEEDED to use any external display except Apple's, which is 100% useless with any other computer EXCEPT those laptops (how much would it have cost Apple to include a DVI or HDMI connector on that monitor and greatly increase the potential user base? My 24" LG monitor has HDMI, component and VGA connectors and comes with a DVI to HDMI adapter cable!) But you just watch. They will shortly come out with a DVI to Mini-Display Port cable for $99 and fanboys will rejoice that their older MBPs and MBs can connect to the new monitor. Apple wins and Apple wins again with these people because they're too blind to see Apple is taking them for all this extra cash that other companies include for free. But they don't have an Apple logo on their monitors so they don't matter. Then again, if you have the new MBs and MBPs you have to buy that cable to use someone else's monitor anyway. So Apple wins again. That's the genius (or stupidity if people do NOT fall for it) behind the propriety mini-display port connector. They get to sell you either their own monitor or a cable either way. You are screwed no matter what. They couldn't even include a mini-to-regular display port ADAPTER even because that would mean you COULD use a select few 3rd party monitors without paying Apple a 'tax' to do so.
Personally, I would have hoped that with Apple's computers going to the Intel platform that everything would be standardized and fans of the Apple operating system could get standard cheap 3rd party cables and accessories, but clearly Apple realizes they are losing out on easy money so they invent new non-standard versions of emerging standards and milk it for as long as they can because they know at least 50% of Apple fans are RABID fans and will buy anything they put out. They've always treated their users that way in the past and some thought they would stop with the Intel change in exchange for the ability to attract disenfranchised Windows users and make up in quantity for losses in unique hardware, but clearly Apple wants its cake and to eat it too.
And THAT is why we don't have AirTunes for iPod Touch from day one (cable or dock sale) and why non-standards like "mini" display port appear. It's not to benefit YOU. It's to benefit Apple. Like you said, Apple doesn't CARE (unless you PAY them to as in "AppleCare" for $$$$).
For me personally, this definitely fits into a love/hate relationship. I love some of Apple's products (the iPod Touch IS sweet and with "Remote" and my AppleTV and Airport Express units, I think I have a more functional system than a Squeezbox and it's much cheaper than Sonus (and still more functional, IMO). I love the Mac OS X operating system. But I HATE Apple's greediness (and the hardware product changes it often results in), which seems to be getting worse all the time and poor user support and short warranties.
After seeing Glovepie and some other apps sync data of the Wiiremote, no
That's the IR sensor. There's an infrared light in the wiimote that the sensor bar can track. The iPhone only has an IR sensor so it turns off the display when you hold it against your ear (proximity sensor). I was lalking about the tilt sensor which seems to be very rudimentary on the Wii.
Yes, you are missing that this is not a supported feature so no app is going to use this. Its only used to DEMO the capabilities. So #1 can't happen because nobody will use it. Its not fully implemented either. As such #2 can't happen ... and why would anyone get angry that Apple blocked an app from using an undocumented API that is forbidden from the SDK terms anyway? #3 is going to happen because Apple is obviously working on the feature...#4 of course - because this shows the potential.