Apple releases iOS 5 for the iFamily
Today Apple released its major update to iOS, iOS 5, to its iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch product lines. There are several new features in the latest iOS build that include, a new Notification Center, BBM-style iMessage, Reminders, Wi-Fi Sync, iCloud and Twitter integration. Additionally, Apple’s all-new Siri personal assistant is iPhone 4S exclusive.
Note: iTunes 10.5 is required for iCloud and the iOS5 update. iOS 5 is available now on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch 3rd / 4th generations, and both iPads.
Update: Apple update servers are being hammered with the influx of users trying to download the latest update. Hopefully things will return to normal soon, after users have gotten their update.
Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, RIP
Steve Jobs, passed away on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 at the age of 56. Steve Jobs, changed and revolutionized technology for the better. He wanted to change the world and he did it in his own way. Steve didn’t bow down before any challenge during his whole life and kept pushing the world forward with his plans. His spirit will continue to live on and be in every single Apple product. Although I didn’t know Steve personally, I will miss him. You will never be forgotten. R.I.P., you visionary.
We will all miss you
[Review]Atari Football for the iPhone
At DotDosh.com we are going to be starting to do reviews for applications on the iPhone. As our first review we will be looking at the game Atari Football for the iPhone/iPod Touch (App Store Link here).
Description:
Based off the table top version you loved as a kid, Atari Football for the iPhone and iPod Touch amps up the game with a new look and feel for the new platform! Name your team, pick your logo, and customize your helmet before you crush your opponent. Catch the The Bomb or Blitz the QB to defeat your friend via local Wifi Multiplayer!
We start out with how the game looks and feels.
You are greeted with a screen that asks you to “touch to start game.” From there you are given a basic menu with options for: One Player, Two Players (Local Multiplayer Wi-Fi), Team Stats, Options, and More Atari Games. To start the game you click on One Player and you can customize your team and the game settings.
You can choose your helmet and stripe color, choose from 11 logos, and name your own team. Once you have all that done the game actually starts. You play as the team that you created and there is a coin that is tossed up to see whether you play offense (heads) or defense (tails). If you play offense you get the playbook for being on offense and if you are on defense you get the playbook for being on defense.
We start off on Offense. On the screen you see the playbook for offense and you can chose any plays to run for your team. Below the plays are the power-ups that you can use in the game, whenever you feel there is a need to use it. There are three different power ups that you can use. The first one is a Turbo Rush, which makes you run super fast! The second one is a Big Helmet, which increases your size, so you can stun any 3 opponents you hit. The third and final one is sure Hands, which is magnet-like hands that makes catching and stealing the ball easier.
Story: There is no story. You are a football team that is trying to beat other football teams. It would have been better if there was a Association/Season mode for you to play in.
Presentation: The visuals for the game is good for a mobile game on the iPhone/iPod Touch. The games menus are easy to navigate, simple, and to the point. The game integrates weather effects into the game. Sometimes the games are played in the sun, sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows, etc. Atari has done a good job at making the game look visually appealing to the old arcade and flash games.
Overall it has a good arcade football vibe, which Atari was going for.
Gameplay: Controls can be a pain sometimes and sometimes it’s not. To run you are supposed to swipe your finger across the device, in the direction that you want, to run. To pass you are supposed to position your QB (Quarterback) by running backwards a little and then with one finger you are supposed to touch the ‘Hold to Pass’ bar at the bottom of the screen. While doing that you are supposed to use your other finger and swipe your hand toward the player that you want to pass it to. To defend you swipe your finger across the screen to get the defender to get the other team’s player with the football.
These controls are not perfect, as there are no buttons, but it can mess you up sometimes. Occasionally when you are trying to swipe to move the quarterback backward or to move the defender to get the other team’s player, it does not register always. That will slow you down and it can make you either lose yards or allow the other team to gain some yards.
Once you master the controls though it can get really easy to gain yards or be a good defender though, even with the occasional un-registering of movements.
Sound: The sound in the game is basic. There are no announcers or anything in that sort of area. There is the whistle from the referee, the crowd, and the player getting tackled. When in the menus there is music, but none of that during the game. Playing an arcade like football game you shouldn’t expect music or announcers anyways.
In Conclusion: All in all the game is not perfect, but good. It can be fun and very easy if you are strategic and if the controls register.
If you are an avid football fan and you can not wait for Madden ’10 on the iPhone/iPod Touch then get this to get a tiny fix of football. If you can wait and save the money for Madden then do it. You are not really missing out on anything breathtaking and will need to buy the game. It can be fun, sometimes, but controls are messy and there is no real story for the game. If there was an Association or a Season mode it would have made the game a lot better.
Final Score:
App Store link: Atari Football, $2.99
Tell us what you think about the game or review in the comments! Stay tuned more reviews are coming your way, like the Terminator Salvation Game for the iPhone/iPod Touch.
Apple Online Store Down…Macbook Price drop?
At an unusual time and day for the Apple App store to be down, it is down. In the past whenever the app store goes down there is usually a price drop or a new product. Seeing as there is nothing announced from Apple, then there has to be a price drop. On what product, though, we are all in the dark.
There has been rumors though before that the white MacBook is imminent for a price drop so Apple can replace it with the low-end Uni-body Macbook, but we are not certian.
Let’s see and find out. DotDosh will update you when new information is available. What do you think the update will be?
Is This The Next iPhone Photo?
Click to enlarge.
Could this be the next iPhone? A photo that was recently posted shows these images, but are to be taken with a grain of salt. If this is the next generation iPhone its pretty sexy and it looks to have a bigger screen and the silent toggle switch moved.
As said before, take this with a grain of slat until Apple finally announces the next iPhone.
Kevin Rose Announces iPhone 3.0 Has Copy+Paste and More
Kevin Rose announced that Copy + Paste functionality will be available in iPhone OS 3.0, that will be announced on March 17th, 2009. This was announced on Diggnation #194 recorded LIVE at Stubbs in Austin, Texas, during SxSW Interactive 2009.
In a video that Kevin Rose posted, he announced the Copy and Paste feature with a couple of other features that the iPhone FW 3.0 will have. He also leaked information that the wanted Video function will still not be available due to some difficulties. Another big feature that he leaked was “Flash†will be released for the iPhone after a long wait from users of the iPhone. The iPhone Software 3.0 will also have all the features that the Palm Pre has (which made it a more attractive device), so that the iPhone is not left behind in features.
Apple Threatens to Shut Down iTunes
This coming Thursday, the Copyright Royalty Board is expected to rule on a request by the National Music Publisher’s Association to increase royalty rates paid to its members for online purchases as much as 66% 
(from 9 to 15 cents a track). Apple, however, stands adamantly opposed to the decision, as it neither wants to absorb the rate hike nor raise prices from 99 cents on its popular iTunes Music Store. Although it has made no official statement on the matter as of yet, past statements indicate that, should the hike go through, the company may shut down the store, rather than risk going into the red.
Fortune reports that in a statement submitted to the board last year, iTunes vice president Eddy Cue suggested simply closing down the music store, should no alternatives present themself. “If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the … royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss – which is no alternative at all,” Cue wrote. “Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.”
Although the exact figures are not certain, estimates on the digital music store’s profitability range from 10% to 30%. Of every dollar it makes, Apple pays roughly 70 cents to the record companies, and, currently, the record companies pay 9 cents to the music publishers. [Neowin]