Daily Archives: October 1, 2010

Apple iOS 4-The most innovative mobile OS

iOS is Apple‘s mobile operating system. Developed originally for the iPhone, it has since been shipped on the iPod Touch and iPad as well. Apple does not permit the OS to run on third-party hardware. As of September 1, 2010, Apple’s App Store contains more than 250,000 iOS applications^[1], which have collectively been downloaded more than 6.5 billion times, as per a keynote on September 1, 2010.

Introduction

The user interface of iOS is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. The response to user input is immediate and provides a fluid interface. Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode).

iOS is derived from Mac OS X, with which it shares the Darwin foundation, and is therefore a Unix-like operating system by nature.

iOS 4 is the next generation of the world’s most innovative mobile operating system. Its unique capabilities and new technologies will change what’s possible on a mobile platform.

Features:

Multitasking

iOS 4 delivers seven new multitasking services that allow your apps to perform tasks in the background while preserving battery life and performance. These multitasking services include:

Background audio – Allows your app to play audio continuously. So customers can listen to your app while they surf the web, play games, and more.
Voice over IP – Your VoIP apps can now be even better. Users can now receive VoIP calls and have conversations while using another app. Your users can even receive calls when their phones are locked in their pocket.
Background location – Navigation apps can now continue to guide users who are listening to their iPods, or using other apps. iOS 4 also provides a new and battery-efficient way to monitor location when users move between cell towers. This is a great way for your social networking apps to keep track of users and their friends’ locations.
Push notifications – Receive alerts from your remote servers even when your app isn’t running.
Local notifications – Your app can now alert users of scheduled events and alarms in the background, no servers required.
Task finishing – If your app is in mid-task when your customer leaves it, the app can now keep running to finish the task.
Fast app switching – All developers should take advantage of fast app switching, which allows users to leave your app and come right back to where they were when they left – no more having to reload the app.

iAd

Apple’s new mobile advertising platform, combines the emotion of TV ads with the interactivity of web ads. When users click on mobile ads they are almost always taken out of their app to a web browser, which loads the advertiser’s webpage. Users must then navigate back to their app, and it is often difficult or impossible to return to exactly where they left. iAd solves this problem by displaying full-screen video and interactive ad content without ever leaving the app, and letting users return to their app anytime they choose.

iOS SDK 4 lets developers easily embed iAd opportunities within their apps, and the ads are dynamically and wirelessly delivered to the device. Apple sells and serves the ads, and developers receive 60 percent of iAd revenue.

Game Center

iOS SDK 4 includes the Game Kit APIs that allow you to create apps that will work with Game Center, Apple’s new social gaming network. Your users can invite friends to play a game, start a multiplayer game through auto-matching, track their achievements, and compare their best scores on a leaderboard.

New APIs

iOS SDK 4 contains over 1,500 new APIs to incorporate into your iPhone and iPod touch apps, including:

Calendar Access –Apps can now create and edit events directly in the Calendar app with Event Kit. Create recurring events, set up start and end times and assign them to any calendar on the device.

In-App SMS-Compose SMS messages from within apps, similar to the Mail compose sheet added in iOS SDK 3.0.

Photo Library Access-Applications now have direct access to user photos and videos with the Media Library APIs.

Accelerate

Accelerate provides hundreds of mathematical functions optimized for iPhone and iPod touch, including signal-processing routines, fast Fourier transforms, basic vector and matrix operations, and industry-standard functions for factoring matrices and solving systems of linear equations.

Automated testing

Automate the testing of your application by scripting touch events using the new UIAutomation Instrument.

Performance and power analysis

Collect finely-grained performance data and track the power usage of your application using the new Time Profiler and Energy Diagnostics Instruments for iOS.

iOS 4 Compatibility

iOS 4 works with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and the second, third, and fourth-generation iPod touch. iPad support will be available in the fall. Not all features are compatible with all devices. For example, multitasking is available only with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and the third and fourth-generation iPod touch.

Posted in Technology

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit is back !!!

Oct 1

Posted by Abhijeet Deshpande

This for all you Need For Speed lovers out there,

This November, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit launches you into a new open-world landscape behind the wheel of the world’s fastest and most beautiful cars. From Criterion, the award-winning studio behind the Burnout series, Hot Pursuit will redefine racing games for a whole new generation.

You’ll experience stunning speeds, takedowns, and getaways as you battle your friends in the most connected Need for Speed game ever. Through Need for Speed Autolog and its innovative approach to connected social competition, your Hot Pursuit experience will extend beyond the console onto the web, constantly moving your gameplay in new and unique directions.

Loaded with action, this game will challenge you to become Seacrest County’s top cop or most wanted racer. For the first time ever in a Need for Speed game, you’ll be able to play a full career on either side of the law. This fall, whether you’re a lead-foot speeder or a cop with a mean streak, make sure your aviators are spotless and your driving record is anything but.

To top it all another new feature in this franchise is that its gonna have a full blown Arms Race.

Cars: