New iPundit app mixes social World Cup match prediction with brilliant footie banter

iPundit, the latest app on the virtual shelves of Apples iTunes store, lets everyone from football-obsessed blokes and ladettes to fair-weather armchair fans and those who fancy Frank Lampard in tight shorts plot England’s route to the final of this summer’s World Cup.
 
iPundit, put together by a development team at Crieff, Scotland-based Creative Change with a visual concept from Soho’s Brilliant Path for client Thomson Sport, is part social match predictor, part footie banter network and part interactive wall-chart.
 
iPundit allows anyone, from scarf-waving “real” fans to England’s army of fair-weather armchair supporters, to predict the scores in each match of the tournament.  It lets you share your predictions with the mates in a social networking “mini league” of mates who have also downloaded the app.
 
It will appeal to anyone who belies that England will win two-one against the USA on the 12th, clinch a five-niller thriller against Algeria on the 18th and force a nail-biting one-all draw against Slovenia on the 23rd to reach the knock-out stages.
 
As the World Cup – which runs from 11th June until 11th July – progresses, iPundit users are awarded points for guessing the correct score, with seven points for guessing the correct scoreline, five for the right winning margin and four for getting the winner. The scores are pushed to the app after each match and your personal mini-league of mates updated.
 
At the heart of the app is Mr Pundit, a cheeky and controversial fan with opinions on everything and who just loves a good (and sometimes not so good) joke.
 
Creative Change used Appcelerator’s Titanium to develop iPundit and allow for rapid porting to other platforms, such as Android, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry. Thomson Sport, part of the TUI Travel group of companies, plans to extend the app to cover other football tournaments and leagues as well as other sports in the future.
 
The Creative Change team used an Agile development methodology to bring the iPundit app from concept to fruition in just a few short weeks.
 
Lead developer on the project was Paul Burrowes, a Dundee United and Liverpool-supporting Scot, best known for being the brains behind Satski, an app for GPS devices that tracked you on the slopes and allowed you to create maps of your journey. Burrowes has also developed the popular ScantoPDF app for Android and iPhone.
 
iPundit has been designed for use in the pub, on the train, in a nail bar,  in the office when the boss isn’t looking and even on the terraces in South Africa. It uses Apple’s push notification to tell users when a new bit of banter has arrived and integrates with both Facebook and Twitter, handling messaging between up to 100,000 users at a time.
 
Burrowes believes that the most exciting element of the app is the personal mini league you run on your own device, made up of the scores of all your mates who are part of your social network.
 
He says: “You link up with friends, they invite their friends and you both appear on each others’ phones. You choose the people you want to play against.”
 
Creative consultancy Brilliant Path has led the art direction and brand identify for the new app. The Soho-based firm has previously worked for clients in a range of sectors including technology, finance and the arts. Previous clients include retro club night School Disco and the Institute of Directors.
 
The consultancy chose the distinctive artwork of illustrator Mr Bingo, a person as mysterious and as creative as graffiti artist Banksy, as the face of the app. Mr Bingo, who is believed to live in Shoreditch, has illustrated articles in GQ and Esquire magazines as well as for big companies like Orange.
 
Thomson Sport’s Lynsey Devon said: “Everyone loves to predict a winner, especially during the World Cup. It is like those football wall-charts you use to have when you were a kid but brought bang up to date.
 
She added: “The excitement over England’ s progress  in the World Cup in South Africa is sure to grow to fever pitch in the next few weeks and we predict that thousands of fans will be downloading iPundit to their iPhones. It means that everyone from football-obsessed blokes to fans who only follow England when they do well can banter about England wherever they happen to be.”

Sony previews wrapable OLED display

A full colour OLED display that you can bend and wrap around a pencil has been showcased by Sony, giving a glimpse into the future of display technology.

The display is just 80 micrometres thick and measures 4.1 inches across the diagonal. Because it does not have any rigid internal components such as chips or backlighting it is possible to manipulate the display and make it fully flexible, which Sony demonstrates by rolling it up on a pencil in an impressive video online.

Sony has even constructed a rather complicated mechanism to automatically perform the wrapping and unwrapping to show just how malleable the display is. You can coil it up so that it has just a 4mm radius and it will keep on pushing out whatever video or images you feed into it.

The rollable OLED display has a 432×240 resolution and it is capable of displaying 16 million colours with a decent contrast ration of 1000:1. The brightness levels look rather good, which is always an encouraging sign and the chances are that this is even more impressive in real life given the difficulties of replicating OLED technology on standard LCD computer monitors.

Sony is working hard in this field and after Samsung unveiled its own transparent AMOLED screen earlier this week, it is clear that the competition in this market is becoming serious. We can only hope that the biros of the future will also be able to play back video for some wraparound amusement.

iPad launch tomorrow

Samsung creates see-through AMOLED screen

Samsung has demonstrated an AMOLED display that is not only capable of showing moving images, but is also transparent, in what is an undeniably unique achievement.

The 19 inch screen is an advancement on the 14 inch version of the technology that it showcased during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the start of 2010, with transparency levels on the latest model now reaching 30 per cent.

Any sci-fi fan will know that movies have been portraying transparent advertising hoardings on shop fronts for years and this is precisely the kind of application that Samsung is planning to target once it has developed a screen large enough for commercial use.

Other potential applications of the technology could be in motor vehicles, with information such as speed and fuel levels displayed on the windscreen itself. Particularly imaginative people might envision the display creating sat-nav augmented reality in cars for a completely revolutionary driving experience in the next few years.

It is clear that Samsung’s experiments with OLED technology are creating more exciting possibilities by the day and although it is unlikely that people will want a see-through TV in their living rooms, the idea of having every window in a shop doubling up as a display is perhaps just a one idea as to what the technology will be able to achieve given enough time and investment.

Adding the displays to glasses, helmets and other portable devices could open up new markets and Samsung’s competitors will need to catch up if they want to take a slice of this action for themselves.

Nokia N8 trumps outgoing N97 smartphone

The upcoming release of the Nokia N8 is eagerly anticipated by fans of the Finnish manufacturer’s previous N Series handsets. Current owners of the N97 and its Mini counterpart will be interested to know that this older Nokia smartphone is going to look pretty inferior to the N8.

The Nokia N8 will be the first smartphone to use the new Symbian 3 platform, whilst the N97 uses the now ancient Symbian S60 5th edition. Although the N8′s processor is not hugely faster than that of the N97, the software and hardware have now been optimised to deal with complex 3D applications and advanced multi-tasking, which should give it the edge in many ways.

The Nokia N8 and N97 were tested by Finest Fones, with the N8 found to be some 180 per cent faster than the N97 in the Speedy Go! benchmarks. The N8 was also able to clock a consistent frame rate of 60 per second in the FPC 3D benchmark, which is something that the N97 cannot hope to match.

The Nokia N8′s processor is clocked at 680MHz according to rumours, which to many might seem a little low. This is the age in which the likes of the Nexus One and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 all sport 1GHz processors. Although clock speed is no longer king in the desktop computer market, mobiles are still involved in a megahertz and not gigahertz face-off, which the N8 is not coming close to winning. That said, the combination of hardware and software on the N8 seems to be a winner.

Remote control Mario Kart racers launched

A new series of dinky remote control cars sporting the likenesses of Nintendo’s favourite plumber Mario and his lankier brother Luigi have been launched and they are sure to please kids and gaming adults alike.

The remote control unit and the racers themselves are small enough for tabletop races, but if you have a smooth wooden floor this might be an even better venue for a match up, since there is a reduced chance of you ending up with a smashed gadget.

As well as the plug-fixing pair, you can choose other staples of the Mario Kart series, including Yoshi and the evil Bowser. The standard controls allow them to move in all directions and true to the game franchise there is even a boost button that lets you accelerate quickly for a brief period, although you will have to use your imagination to pretend you have driven over a power-up.

Obstacles come in the shape of little plastic Koopa shells and the famous banana skin, so you can set up race courses that are as simple or complex as you like.

You will be able to control the cars remotely over more than one and a half metres and each kart will sell for around the £20 when they are launched.

Although these little racers are clearly intended for kids, the novelty of owning them is probably going to have nearly universal appeal. The batteries are also included and should be easy to replace, which is a bonus.

iPod Touch prototype snapped

A pre-release version of an iPod Touch has been showcased by a Vietnamese site, sporting the interesting addition of a two megapixel camera.

The images that were turned up by the Tinhte site clearly show that the iPod Touch in question is not a finalised version and given that it looks nothing like the iPhone 4G, but rather like the current generation iPod and iPhone, could indicate that Apple has some serious changes planned.

Keen observers have pointed out that the serial number displayed on the prototype marks it out as originating from the end of 2009. It is entirely possible that this is simply a design that was canned by Apple before it went into mass production.

Judging from the pictures, the two megapixel camera is accompanied by a small microphone, with the intention of allowing video capture. Inside is 64GB of storage space, which is not achieved using a single chip, but rather two Samsung 32GB chips.

The prototype iPod Touch has a slightly strange proprietary user interface, which lacks all of the traditional Apple polish, but apparently has apps, including the Nike+ exercise software.

All eyes will be on Apple when June 7th rolls around, as this is believed to be the date on which the new iPhone will be unveiled on the world. If it is planning to update the iPod Touch at the same time, then it would be sensible to assume that it will announce both at a single press event.

Kindle eReader coming to Android smartphones

Amazon has said that it will be opening up its eBook catalogue to Android-based smartphone owners in a bid to expand into new markets and a new Kindle app will be ported to the platform.

Amazon already sells stand-alone Kindle devices which are intended to excel as eBook reading gadgets, but it has already created an app for the iPhone which enables Kindle content to be accessed by mobile users.

The Android version of the Kindle app will be more impressive than its iPhone counterpart, largely because it will allow users to purchase eBooks directly from their phones, rather than requiring them to buy them on their Kindle or PC and then transfer them over.

With over half a million books available in the Kindle library and with new publications being added continuously, Android users will be able to access an almost limitless number of titles from the past and present. The Kindle app allows you to transfer books you have already purchased using the service over to your smartphone, so there is no need to make repeat purchases.

The Kindle Store is an ideal hub for fans of literature, as it lets them peruse the latest releases, download classic books that are out of copyright free of charge and even check out reader reviews and submit their own musings on a book that they have enjoyed – or not!

The Android version of the Kindle app has been optimised for the platform, complete with intuitive touchscreen controls and accelerometer sensitivity to automatically switch between landscape and portrait orientation.

Commemorative World Cup Sky+HD boxes launched

Sky has engaged the help of three designers in order to come up with new cover designs for the Sky+HD set top box in time for the 2010 World Cup which kicks off in South Africa this summer.

Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, actor Phil Daniels and artist Gerald Scarfe have all contributed a unique design to adorn the top of the Sky+HD boxes and the first customers will be able to pick up the colourful devices from May 26th.

Observers have pointed out that Sky is not going to be broadcasting any of the World Cup matches on its sports channels, as terrestrial broadcasters have the rights to the tournament. However, it does have both BBC HD and ITV HD integrated into its schedules, so every game will be available in high definition.

The Sky+HD boxes that have had the World Cup makeover are the brand new 1TB models, which give users hundreds of gigabytes more space than the older versions of the device.

The simple red of Mr Hemingway’s design, which subtly includes the score line and date of England’s last World Cup win, is probably the most appealing of the three. However, the cheery cartoonish look of Mr Scarfe’s might also appeal to some.

When the special edition Sky+HD boxes launch, they will retail for about £250, so anyone looking to upgrade their storage space in time for the World Cup will be able to splash out. Hopefully the designs will act as a reminder of a successful tournament, as a poor performance could give them a lasting, bitter aftertaste.

Top rockers axed from Guitar Hero 6

The previous entries in the Guitar Hero franchise have been known for their inclusion of licensed likenesses and even motion-captured recreations of some of the world’s most famous guitarists, but now it looks as though the sixth game in the series will ditch this feature altogether.

Publisher Activision has allegedly been forced into the decision by a few legal battles initiated by members of ska pop group No Doubt and Hole singer Courtney Love.

Despite the lack of playable rock stars, it seems that the game will still include famous faces, but simply as non-playable characters that the player must entice into joining their band in order to gain bigger gigs, special guitar-based power-ups and other bits and pieces.

Lars Ulrich of Metallica is already confirmed as a bankable ally, but this is not surprising as Metallica have already had an entire Guitar Hero game dedicated to their back catalogue.

Rumours suggest that the stars may be playable in a roundabout way, with their ‘alter egos’ becoming available after you have acquired their services in the main campaign. This might be perceived as a bit of a letdown by some fans, whilst others will be more interested in learning about the tracks that will be making an appearance.

Kiss’ Gene Simmons has been hired to voice the expositional scenes for the main campaign and rock legends Queen and Black Sabbath will be popping up along the way. The recent death of Ronnie James Dio is sure to be acknowledged by Guitar Hero 6 as well, given his somewhat legendary status in the rock ‘n’ roll community.

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