Tag Archives: model

Daily iPhone App: Robot Unicorn Attack 2 turns Adult Swim’s biggest hit freemium

Daily iPhone App Robot Unicorn Attack 2

Adult Swim has built up a nice stable of games on the App Store, and the biggest workhorse in it is Robot Unicorn Attack, a Flash game that's an endless runner where you play as the titular creature dashing and jumping to '80s music playing in the background. That game's been very successful, but due to the music licensing, Adult Swim's never been able to turn it freemium, which is a business model that potentially offers a bigger audience (and more profits).

Robot Unicorn Attack 2, however, is built freemium from the ground up. It's free to download, and the game earns you a currency which you can spend on powering up your unicorn, customizing it with various extra items, buying boosts to help your score and so on. The music has changed to something a little more easily licensed, though you can still buy a number of real licensed songs (Corey Hart!) via in-app purchase. And while there's not multiplayer per se, there are also daily and weekly challenges, designed to get you to beat your own high score, or fight for your faction in a larger competition.

The game itself hasn't changed much, though the boosts and the upgrades do pack a pretty solid punch (you can add plenty of extra jumps to your unicorn's repertoire, and even fly once you've reached full speed). Developer PikPok (best known for their great Monsters Ate My Condo games) has done an excellent job here riffing on the original title, while still keeping Adult Swim's freemium requirements in place. Robot Unicorn Attack 2 is definitely worth a download -- the freemium elements aren't always successful, but this is a solid update on Adult Swim's most charming game.

Daily iPhone App: Robot Unicorn Attack 2 turns Adult Swim's biggest hit freemium originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Autodesk FormIt – iPad App Review

For those of us who spend our days drawing in the 2d- and 3d- world, its been a long wait for an app which allowed us to model without a mouse, commands, or short keys. And now that wait is over. Autodesk, the industry leader in design and engineering software, has released its latest design tool – FormIt. Made to help you model up building concept ideas, you can generate from anywhere and anytime ideas strike – with nothing but your fingertips.

Included in the feature of this app, a map extension helps you bring in location and context via satellite imagery, while built-in calculators give you real-time floor area, volume, and height information. A shadow-study tool also projects the sun’s angles for any time of day and any day of the year.

There is small library of shapes – cubes, cylinders, and pyramids among them – to get your model started. You can then push, pull, twist, copy, rotate, and skew faces, edges, and complete masses to help form your concept model. The tools, while primitive compared with other parametric modeling programs being developed now, provide a great start to getting a quick concept built. Once modeled you can easily export the model or capture and send screenshots of your design.

The layout is clean, simple, and straightforward. It is almost effortless to pan and rotate around your model, and while getting a handle on the different tools to manipulate your model will take a little practice, the interface is very intuitive.

This app also supports BIM (Building Information Modeling) workflow and exports to a variety of other design software including- Revit (.rvt), and Autodesk Fusion and other 3d modeling programs (.sat). Users also have the option to share and store models in the Autodesk 360 cloud services.

What I liked:   This is a true first for the industry and it’s a great glimpse at the future for 3d designers and engineers. (A bit like Tom Cruise working in Minority Report, right?) The ability to lose the mouse and model with our fingertips has great potential, and this app is extraordinarily intuitive and easy to use. You can export what you’ve started to other BIM or 3d platforms – it makes a great tool for starting a new building design.

What I didn’t like:  While we’re really excited for 3d modeling on the iPad, there are a few kinks in the app thus far – you cannot import models and modify them in the app. The app only uses imperial units for modeling, although Autodesk has reported that it is working on a release with metric units. There is no advanced editing for the base massing shapes it provides – you can pull and push faces and edges, beyond that, you’re stuck with what they provide.

To buy or not to buy:  While this is a first for Autodesk, it is a great introduction with loads of potential. Its free (for now) and if your line of work, or even a hobby could benefit – its definitely worth downloading and going for a spin.

App Name: FormIt Version Reviewed: 1.1 Category: Productivity Developer: Autodesk Price: Free Score: 

» Related posts: New Autodesk iPad App Converts Your Photos Into 3D Models Autodesk Unveils New Creative Tools for iPad Users Take a Closer Look Inside Your Skull with BoneBox – iPad App Review

Digital artists imagine Siri’s face

If you're like me, you've probably anthropomorphized Siri. I think of her (as a US resident I have a female voice) almost as a person and address her as "Siri" when I make requests. I'm not alone as a recent contest from Shapeways, a 3D printing service and online marketplace, asked its community to submit their ideas of what Siri looks like.

The contest recently ended and the New York-based start-up released its winners in both the 3D and non-3D Inspiring Design category. You can check out the winning entries and the runners-up on Shapeways's website.

[Via The Huffington Post]

Digital artists imagine Siri's face originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atari follows up freemium Breakout Boost with paid Breakout Boost+

A little while back, Atari continued its releases of updated classic games for iOS with Breakout Boost, a freemium version of the classic brickbreaking game that offers updated graphics and a few new mechanics to go with them. This week Atari announced another title called Breakout: Boost+, and while the general trend on the App Store recently is to go more towards freemium, Atari has actually made a move away from it. Breakout: Boost+ is a paid title, currently available for 99 cents.

The "plus" version includes 100 levels that aren't available in the free version, and it doesn't appear to have any in-app purchases. Other than that, the gameplay appears to be about the same, adding in power-ups and those improved graphics to the standard Breakout gameplay. It's an interesting choice; during a time when most games are dropping their price down to free to get the largest possible audience, Atari has followed up a free launch with a title that falls back on the old paid model while still leaving the freemium version available.

TUAW asked Atari what the deal is. Atari CEO Jim Wilson tells us that this title is definitely not a relaunch, and the choice to offer a paid app doesn't necessarily reflect disappointment with the free version. "Breakout: Boost was a big success for Atari that generated over 2 million downloads," says Wilson, "and we plan to continue supporting the title, having released an update since launch to enhance the initial free levels." Presumably both versions will be updated going forward, so customers can either download the free version as a trial, or buy the paid version to get access to all of the content right away.

This kind of experimentation definitely shows that Atari, a very traditional gaming company, is looking to grow its mobile offerings, especially on iOS. According to Wilson, "This latest release of Breakout: Boost+ is just one small step among many more to come that expands on our mobile games offering and an effort to keep iterating on our games to address consumer demands -- in this case, a call for an upfront premium download." It sounds like at least some of Atari's customers wanted the more traditional paid model rather than the freemium offering. It'll be interesting to see how these two apps do in the App Store going forward.

Atari follows up freemium Breakout Boost with paid Breakout Boost+ originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple moves to ban Steve Jobs action figure

Do you remember the Steve Jobs action figure that was so life-like it was creepy? It appears the model may never see the light of day because of Apple's proactive legal team. According to a report in the Telegraph, Apple is threatening to sue InIcons, the company that created and marketed the figurine. Apple supposedly sent a letter to the company that said it's illegal to use a company's logo, a person's name or his or her likeness without consent.

InIcons has been taking pre-orders for the action figure and expected to ship it sometime next month. InIcons hasn't said what it would do, but comments from InIcons' Tony Cheung suggest the company isn't going to step down. Cheung recently spoke to ABC News and said:

"Apple can do anything they like. I will not stop, we already started production."

Cheung also says his legal team advised him his figurine is in compliance with the law because it's not sold with any replica Apple products. As for Jobs' likeness? Cheung says Jobs is "not an actor, he's just a celebrity. There is no copyright protection for a normal person." He further argues that "Steve Jobs is not a product...so I don't think Apple has the copyright of him."

InIcons is not the first company to create a Steve Jobs action figure. MIC Gadget produced a life-like action figure last year, but it was shut down by Apple's legal team.

[Via MSNBC and ABC News]

Apple moves to ban Steve Jobs action figure originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guardian iPhone app debuts, subscription available to UK customers

The Guardian has released a brand new version of its iPhone app on the App Store, this time featuring a subscription model for UK customers. Lots of publications have been trying to get Apple to approve a subscription model for apps, but The Guardian went ahead and did it themselves, offering up a six-month subscription to the content for £3, or a full year subscription for £4. The full app will still have content even without the subscription, but the subscription offers features like offline browsing and search, as well as some extra audio and video content.

Americans can still download and use the app for free, and while it has all of the subscription features unlocked, the app is populated with ads. Interesting model for The Guardian, but theirs is a big organization, and the app is probably just a line item somewhere in a gigantic budget. If the subscription model works well for them, it could influence both Apple and other publications in terms of how they appear on the App Store.

Guardian iPhone app debuts, subscription available to UK customers originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad 2 Cases and Mockup Revealed at CES


Over the past several weeks we’ve gotten received several photos of what are supposedly cases for Apple’s upcoming second generation iPad.  The cases all show extra cutouts for what is reported to be an additional connector or speaker and a rear facing camera.  Up until now we’ve just seen photos but it appears that some manufactures are so certain that these are the specs for the next iPad that they are showing them off at CES and Engadget just spotted one of them.

While roaming the halls at CES today, Engadget came across the booth of Chinese accessory maker Dexim who had new cases designed specifically for the iPad 2.  Of course it’s hard to get a good feel for how a new case will fit a yet to be released product and to help prospective buyers get a better sense for fit and finish, the company also had mockup second generation iPads on hand for people to play with.

It’s hard to believe that so many Chinese companies have already leaked specs to Apple’s second generation iPad this far in advance, but the design and sizing of Dexim’s cases closely match the details we’ve been receiving from other accessory makers.  You might ask yourself, why a company would invest in creating mockups for cases and display them at CES if they didn’t know the specifications to be legit?  Marketing?  How many of us ever heard of Dexim before today?  Not many.  But now with the bizz of having iPad 2 cases and mockups, we’re sure their booth will enjoy some extra traffic this CES.

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Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous

Tapulous (purchased by Disney earlier this year) has released Tap Tap Revenge 4, the fourth iteration of the extremely popular iOS music game, and the new version brings a whole lot of new features to the series. The game is now compatible with the Retina Display, includes Game Center integration, and has quite a few new social modes that let you "like" various songs, as well as see which of your friends have also "liked" that same music. Like Tap Tap 3, it's a free app that sells music packs and avatars as in-app purchases, with music from artists in all genres, from Linkin Park to Rihanna, The Killers, and quite a few more.

Earlier this week, TUAW sat down to chat with Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem about the new game, and how his company has changed since it was not only acquired by Disney, but since he was placed in charge of the entire Disney Mobile operation. Read on to find out just how well Tap Tap Revenge 4 is doing (it's showing "the biggest download numbers ever," according to Decrem), and how he sees Disney's future in the mobile app space.

Continue reading Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous

Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous

Tapulous (purchased by Disney earlier this year) has released Tap Tap Revenge 4, the fourth iteration of the extremely popular iOS music game, and the new version brings a whole lot of new features to the series. The game is now compatible with the Retina Display, now includes Game Center integration, and has quite a few new social modes that let you "like" various songs, as well as see which of your friends has also "liked" that same music. Like Tap Tap 3, it's a free app that sells music packs and avatars as in-app purchases, with music from artists in all genres, from Linkin Park to Rihanna, The Killers, and quite a few more.

Earlier this week, TUAW sat down to chat with Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem about the new game, and how his company has changed since it was not only acquired by Disney, but since he was placed in charge of the entire Disney Mobile operation. Read on to find out just how well Tap Tap Revenge 4 is doing (it's showing "the biggest download numbers ever," according to Decrem), and how he sees Disney's future in the mobile app space.

Continue reading Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous

Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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