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06/30/07
The one thing that really bothers me about the iPhone has nothing to do with the multi-touch interface, software, functions or AT&T. Its the headphone jack.
Just a little simple thing: It is too recessed to allow a normal plug. So my two great Sony headphones don’t fit. And I hate earbuds, they hurt my ears. Worse yet, I can’t plug it into my car, which is where I listen to my iPod most of all. I’d imagine that almost all non-Apple earphones and input jacks don’t fit.
I can fix this problem today by building a cable by cutting up an old set of earbuds that I never use. But how do those without a soldering iron fix this problem? There will probably be some cables out in a few months that you can buy for $9 or something. But I want to use my iPhone as my iPod now.
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06/29/07
So I’ve had my iPhone for a few hours now, and here are the answers to my earlier questions. We’ve also posted a ton of video to MacMost.com.
1. How fast or slow is the EDGE network?
Not bad at all. Much faster than on my old SideKick. Not nearly as fast as using the WiFi, but still pretty good.
2. Does it work with some of my iPod accessories?
Not my Belkin Mic, but it does work with the old iPod dock cables.
3. Does it work well with normal headphones?
No. My good Sony headphones will not fit into the deeply recessed headphone jack. Not sure if this is intentional. I’ll need to find an adapter. I sure hope the input jack in my car works. But probably not. This is a problem.
4. Does Google Docs work on the Safari in the iPhone?
Yes and no. Viewing seemed OK with a doc and a spreadsheet, but I couldn’t edit either.
5. Will the games I created at http://macmost.com/iphonegames/ work?
Yes! Well, at least 2 out of the 5. So I’ll continue to make some games. Look for new ones there in a few days.
6. How well can you use standard blogging software, like Word Press, with it? It would be nice if I could blog easily from the phone.
Seems to work fine.
7. How is the camera?
Seems OK. Nice to have the larger resolution, but it is still phone camera quality.
8. How soon will someone come up with a hack to allow you to use a custom ringtone?
We’ll have to wait and see.
9. How is coverage in my area?
5 bars at the office. I’ll drive around tomorrow and test.
10. Will I respect it in the morning?
I’m still drunk with the day’s events. So I’ll have to sleep it off and see.
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So, I’m getting ready to begin my wait in line at the local Apple Store. We’ll be producing video for MacMost.com, and hopefully purchasing an iPhone at 6 o’clock. Once I get one, the big questions I have are:
1. How fast or slow is the EDGE network? I’m used to surfing via my phone on a slower pre-EDGE network, so I’m hoping the 200Kbps being reported today seems fast.
2. Does it work with some of my iPod accessories. I’m hoping it at least works with the dock cables and chargers I have. But I’m not too sure about the microphone.
3. Does it work well with normal headphones? I hate ear buds. I won’t use them. They hurt my ears. So, I use nice padded or over-ear headphones. But how does the iPhone, which expects to have a mic on the headset, work with just headphones? How easy is it to switch to a call?
4. Does Google Docs work on the Safari in the iPhone? Being able to create word processing and spreadsheet documents is a huge factor.
5. Will the games I created at http://macmost.com/iphonegames/ work? I’m betting the AJAX ones do, but the QuickTime ones don’t.
6. How well can you use standard blogging software, like Word Press, with it? It would be nice if I could blog easily from the phone.
7. How is the camera? I know reviews are not kind, but I’m used to a really crappy phone camera. This should seem better, I hope.
8. How soon will someone come up with a hack to allow you to use a custom ringtone? I’m betting by the end of next week.
9. How is coverage in my area? I’ve never been on the Cingular network, so I’m hoping it doesn’t suck too bad.
10. Will I respect it in the morning? Or will I wake up realizing that I just spent $600 and committed to a 2-year $2,000 contract for something that isn’t that much better than the phone I already had?
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06/26/07
I Just Made Some iPhone Games. Or, at least I think I did. I thought of two ways that I could make games that will work on the iPhone. The first way is to build JavaScript games. Tough to do. Even tougher to make good ones. But I built a Match Three game and a Collapsing Blocks game a while back. So I modified them to fit on a smaller screen and tested thoroughly in Safari 3. I figure Safari 3 is as close as I can get to an iPhone until Friday night. Lucky that both of these games should work well on a touch screen.
I also thought about the QuickTime Flash layer. QuickTime has had the ability to display Flash 5 movies for a while. And since I started making Flash games a long time ago, I’ve got a library of code that works in Flash 5. So I ported 3 games over as QuickTime movies. They work in Safari as well, and also in iTunes. They do not work on my Apple TV because they refuse to transfer to it. But maybe they will work on Safari on the iPhone.
I’ve created a little arcade of iPhone games to await Friday night. Then I’ll test and modify. If these games actually work, I’ll put more there. I’ll also improve the games for the screen and processor.
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06/22/07
I’ve been busy writing a new book for the last few months. This one is called “ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University” and it is about — you guessed it — AS3 games. It will be from QUE/Pearson and available in a few months in stores and online.
So why did I come out of book writing retirement? My older two books, Flash 5 for Fun and Games and the MX upgrade to it, were out-of-date even for AS2. And I was really excited about AS3 and how much faster it is.
The book will also be supported by a huge Web site I am planning called Flash Game University at http://flashgameu.com. I plan to write a blog there, do a podcast, write more articles about games, and have forums and such. Right now, you can just go there and pre-order the book.
Basically, the book is like my other ones in that it features more than a dozen full games, with full source. I walk you through the code in the games. You can learn from it, or just customize the games yourself. I’ve challenged myself by doing a Match Three game as one of the chapters. Match Three isn’t all that hard to make by itself, but coming up with code that can be printed and explained in a single book chapter was hard. I had to re-think and simplify some of the processes in the game. I even did it without using recursion. There’s also a chapter on platform games, and one on racing games. The jigsaw puzzle game is a free-floating one, not the lock-into-a-board type found in other places. And there is a real word search game, with randomly placed words and the ability to drag and outline the letters like a player would expect. Also a pretty good trivia game engine.
Anyway, I’ll be posting more here about it over the next few weeks. I’ll see if I can get a table of contents up too.
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