Zephyrus of the Anemoi

.the ramblings of a radman.

Tag: iOS

AirPlay Mirroring to your Mac with AirServer and Reflector

April 2, 2013 /

One of the coolest features available to iPhones and iPads has been the ability to mirror your devices display to your television using an Apple TV. AirPlay has been around even longer, which let you direct a video or audio stream to your Apple TV or (in the case of audio) to an AirPort Express with attached speakers. However, in Mountain Lion, Apple went a step further and allowed supported Macs to also be able to mirror their displays to the Apple TV. Unfortunately, in what many consider to be an incredible oversight, Apple never went the opposite direction and allowed iOS devices and Macs to mirror their displays to other Macs. Some might consider this overkill, but it’s an excellent way to capture gameplay video from an iOS device and it’s also helpful in a classroom or work environment when Apple TVs aren’t readily available.

Enter AirServer and Reflector. Both apps have a very similar feature set, with the edge going to Reflector, which allows you to record video directly from within the app. This is an excellent tool for developers wanting to show off how their app works. However, for those that don’t need that specific feature and simply want to stream video to their display (or, those that prefer to use QuickTime Player or another tool for capturing video onscreen), AirServer feels simpler and easier to use. Plus, AirServer has a number of excellent pricing alternatives for students, teachers, and those that need a volume license.

One major advantage to AirServer is its ability to present a higher quality video stream out of the box. Reflector defaults to 720p video only, while AirServer takes into account the specific device connecting, allowing 3rd and 4th generation iPads to display 1080p video with no configuration. Reflector appears capable of doing the same, however it gives a warning that iOS devices only support 720p video, which is no longer true. Both devices allow multiple inbound video and audio streams at a time, which is also pretty cool if you want to display more than one device at a time. In an education or corporate environment, that can be handy for allowing different pieces of a presentation to be offloaded to multiple devices so that presenters don’t have to switch between apps on the fly. Or, if you just like showing off technology, it can allow you to play multiple games on your TV at once.

Another great benefit to AirServer over Reflector is the ability to treat inbound streams as individual windows, complete with close and minimize buttons and a full-screen toggle. You can also hover your mouse over the video to access music controls, allowing you to play, pause, and skip music playing from your iDevice’s library through your computer speakers.

If I had to choose only one app to use, I’d currently go with AirServer due to the greater pricing flexibility and the fact that it’s a smoother experience out of the box. However, if you want more control over capturing video, Reflector has a definite advantage.

You can get more information about AirServer at their website here. Likewise, Reflector’s site has additional info, as well.

[plinker heading=”Find this useful? Check out some of the other cool stuff here!”]

Today in Letterpress

January 29, 2013 /

20130129-111145.jpg

Technically, I think that’s a proper noun (to my knowledge, the clearing of four lines at once, is still written as a Tetris, not a tetris), but it’s a good one, so I’m not complaining.

iOS 6: Photo Streams and Maps

September 20, 2012 /

I’ve had the luxury of using iOS 6 for sometime now, due to my developer status. Even still, until the final version was released, there were a number of features with which I never spent much (if any) time. In the case of Shared Photo Streams, that was mostly due to a lack of other users with whom I could test the feature.

Today, I spent some time setting up and joining a few streams. I shared some goofy photos with my cousins and several pics of my children with my family. Perhaps the nicest thing about sharing Photo Streams is the speed with which others can comment on your photos. I don’t know a single iPhone or iPad owner that doesn’t have an Apple ID. Which means that when I share a photo, they are able to see it and respond without signing up for any accounts like they would with a social network.

In fact, Apple has created the stealthiest social network of all time. If you’ve ever purchased anything on iTunes, you’ve already got an account. Plus, because new shared streams default to private, only those you invite can see your photos unless you explicitly make your stream public.

Within minutes of sharing a Photo Stream with my wife, she had already sent me a message telling me how awesome it was. A few simple taps on the screen and 16 photos were almost immediately available for her to view and enjoy.

Now, the more cynical out there will complain that Shared Photo Streams are nothing more than MobileMe web galleries returned from their recent grave. The concept is certainly similar, but the execution in iOS 6 is so much simpler, it feels like magic. If you haven’t had a chance to play with it yet, I encourage you to do so soon.

On the flip side, I spent quite a lot of time with the new Maps feature in iOS 6. And, while not perfect, it has excelled at getting me from point A to point B in style. The new map tiles are simply incredible and the map directions are easy to read and pervasive throughout the entire OS. Even when your device goes to sleep, the directions are right there on your lock screen and will even pop up whenever Siri speaks to tell you your next turn.

There seem to be a lot of complaints out there from some very vocal people about Apple’s Maps not being as good as Google’s. I’m not surprised by that fact, nor do I think it matters. For starters, Google has been at this a lot longer than Apple and even when the first iPhone was released, the Maps app wasn’t perfect. Google had to do a lot of updating on the back end before they got to where they are today. Apple has an advantage that Google didn’t: millions of iPhone owners able to report mapping errors from their device as they encounter them.

But in the end, it doesn’t matter. Most users will never encounter any issues at all. And, as with everything that Apple does, it will get better and better over time until most users forget they ever had issues at all.

Only time will tell, but I’d be very surprised if Apple’s Maps don’t see rapid improvements.

Happy Chaos Rings II Day! — Also, The Ides of March

March 15, 2012 /

It’s the Ides of March, and you know what that means! It’s time to open our Ides of March presents! Hey, wait… why did you get me a sharp, stabby thing? Ow! That really hurts!

Wait, I get it. You’re trying to draw a parallel to the most important Ides of March gift of all: SQUARE-ENIX releasing CHAOS RINGS II ($17.99 for iPhone/$19.99 for iPad)!

CHAOS RINGS is a series of JRPGs (that’s a role-playing game in the Japanese–rather than Western–style, such as FINAL FANTASY or CHRONO TRIGGER) exclusively available on iOS. While the original was not as robust as most traditional SQUARE-ENIX RPGs, it had an engaging story, beautiful graphics, incredible music, and a rather intelligent combat system the focuses on pairs of heroes taking on monsters individually or as a duo, inflicting (and receiving) damage based on if they were paired up or not. It is actually a very fun system that requires players to decide if they wish to do one action on their turn with significant performance gains (at the risk of taking more damage, as attacks will hit both characters), or take two separate, but weaker, actions and potentially split the attacks between the two characters.

Since CHAOS RINGS was initially released, SQUARE-ENIX has followed it up with a prequel that delivered much of the same gameplay as the original, but with (mostly) new characters and a larger campaign that was added to over time via regular updates. CHAOS RINGS Î© ($11.99 for iPhone/$14.99 for iPad) was an excellent little taster to hold over fans of the series while they waited for a true sequel. Well, that time has arrived. Late last night, CHAOS RINGS II was released into the App Store. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but considering how excellent the first two games in the series were, I’m expecting great things. I highly recommend fans of the series scoop this up quickly.

Also, to celebrate the death of Julius Caesar (and probably the release of CHAOS RINGS II), SQUARE-ENIX has also put the original CHAOS RINGS on sale for the day. Pick it up for the iPhone for $3.99 and the iPad for $4.99.

UPDATE (3/16/12): CHAOS RINGS Î© is now also on sale. You can grab it for $4.99 on the iPhone and $5.99 on the iPad.

The new iPad, iPhoto, GarageBand, and You!

March 8, 2012 /

Yesterday, Apple monopolized the tech news circuit (and, lets face it, much of the news as a whole) with their special event to announce the new iPad. Sure, they announced some other stuff, too: an updated Apple TV with 1080p support, purchased movies from iTunes now stored in iCloud and available for re-download, and updates to a number of iPhone and iPad apps (which I’m very excited about and will discuss in the second half of this article).

The iPad itself received the expected upgrade to a Retina display with a 2048 x 1536 resolution: four times the pixels of the previous iPad. Unfortunately, it will be at least a week before I can even glimpse the new screen, but considering how impressive the iPhone 4’s Retina display was, the iPad will likely deliver the same astounding contrast. I’m not going to waste your time telling you about all the details you can get everywhere else, but I will comment on the increase of the RAM to 1GB. The iPad should be quite a bit snappier than the previous model. I’m also looking forward to the quality of gameplay on the new device. Infinity Blade: Dungeons has me more excited than any iPad game has the right. I love Diablo and its clones, and Infinity Blade II is my favorite game on the iPhone. Period. I really can’t wait for this game.

So far, the most exciting aspect of the announcement has been iPhoto and GarageBand. I imagine that if I were able to afford an iPad, I would feel differently. But, being able to use iPhoto and the updated GarageBand now has been a lot of fun. GarageBand’s Smart Strings feature and Jam Sessions will make them a huge hit for my family and friends. I hope to get a few songs recorded and up on the blog to show just how cool and easy it can be.

iPhoto is the app I’ve spent the most time with so far. Last night, I took some time to apply a few edits to a photo of my wife from our honeymoon that I thought were pretty cool. You can see them here:

Honeymoon Original

The original photo

Honeymoon Edited

The edited photo, with a handful of filters applied to the image

 

These features are a welcome addition to those that love to use their iPhone or iPad as a tool for photography, but the feature I expect to see used most is Photo Journals. Fans of MobileMe were quite frustrated when iCloud was announced and didn’t include support for the MobileMe Gallery. Tim Cook was coy when asked if any of the missing features would be coming to iCloud, and I feel like yesterday was one of those reasons. iPhoto Journals allow you to customize layout and size of the photos being displayed. For an example, check out my public journals here.

When all is said and done, I was happy with Apple’s announcement yesterday, and hope that $700 falls into my lap soon so that I can go pick up an iPad to fully explore its new features, as well.

Mole Kart: an iOS review

January 15, 2012 /

I recently downloaded Mole Kart on the App Store (I am not linking to the app, as I’m not endorsing this product and don’t want anyone to buy it on accident.

It is a testament to how desperate people are for Mario Kart on the iPhone that anyone has bothered giving this game a 5-star rating. The controls are decent, but the physics are inconsistent and unintuitive.

I could forgive this game if it had been “heavily-inspired” by Mario Kart. But it is a direct rip-off. Every level is a poorly cloned copy of a level straight out of Mario Kart. All of the items are simply new graphics with the same functionality as those of Mario Kart.

Everything about this game screams “rush job”. There are simply too many reasons not to waste your money on this.

I want a solid kart racer on iOS, too, but this isn’t the way to get it. Thankfully, Sonic Racing is actually pretty fun. Not the best, but better than the rest.

Awesome Free Games (and one app) for iOS (today only)

October 28, 2011 /

So, I like to share when I find out awesome apps are free to download, but I usually do so via Twitter. The main reason for that is because it’s faster to just post a link with a brief description and name. However, today there are some truly awesome apps available to download to celebrate Halloween (or Samhain, in the Old Language) so I dedicated a blog entry to them. Let’s start with the games:

The Creeps! / The Creeps! HD – The Creeps! was one of my early recommendations for the iPhone, and while its place on my home screen has been usurped over the years, it is always a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a great tower defense title. In the game, you build defenses to fight off monsters that are pouring through from a closet door to Hell and trying to reach your bed. The various weapons are unique compared to other tower defense titles, both in design and utility. The developers have continued to support the game by creating loads of add-on level packs, but even without them, the game is totally worth its usual asking price of $1.99. You really should get it while it’s free.

Scre4m / Scre4m HD – So, I didn’t even know this game existed until today, and I’m so glad I found out about it. You get to play as the killer in this delightful isometric, tap-to-kill bloodbath. Move Ghostface around the screen by tapping where you want him to go, sneak up on unsuspecting high schoolers, and cut them to ribbons, all while avoiding the cops (or killing them, too). I highly recommend downloading it as soon as possible.

IN TIME – So, I didn’t even know about this movie, and I don’t know if I really care. I love JTims and all, but he’s never really sold me on his skills as a dramatic actor. This game is kind of fun, but not fantastic. I enjoyed it for about 30 minutes, because it was free, but I never would have paid for it. It’s an endless running game, but in 3-D. You are running forward, trying to grab time capsules to increase your life, while trying to escape from the time police, and giving away seconds of your life to citizens in an attempt to boost your score multiplier. It’s actually kind of cool, but believe me when I say that it’s not worth its initial asking price. Get it while it’s free and trash it if you think it sucks.

The Terminator – This is a rather basic dual-stick shooter, that feels less like an iOS game and more like a Super Nintendo or original Playstation game, due to the fact that you don’t actually aim in 360 degrees, but rather in 8 directions. That doesn’t take away from the fun of slaughtering wave after wave of skinless T-800s. It’s free for Halloween, as well, so snatch it up!

And now, the one app:

Incredibooth – The advent of digital cameras saw the decline of photo booths across America. But now, thanks to the power of the iPhone 4/4S and iPod touch, you can enjoy a digital photo booth in the palm of your hand! This app recreates the photo booth experience by taking four pictures in succession via the front-facing camera and creating a photo strip that you can then export to your camera roll or share via email, Facebook, and Twitter. It’s fun, it’s fancy, and it’s free (for a short time).

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