Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

The idea behind Set, the now-classic card/puzzle game, can be mind-numbingly difficult to explain. Some people just can't wrap their heads around the "all the same or all different concept." Of course, some people get it right away. For both types, the new Set app [$2.99] for the iPhone and iPod touch is a fine challenge, even if it's not perfect in all aspects.

Here's the gist of the game: each card in the 81-card deck has between one and three images on it. These images come in three shapes (diamond, oval, and squiggly), three colors (red, green, and purple), and three levels of shading (solid, lined, and empty). Every possible combination is available on one single card.

The goal is to find sets from a collection of cards laid face-up on the table. A set is any three cards where each of these four features are, independently, either all the same or all different? So, a single red solid diamond, a single green solid diamond, and a single purple solid diamond make a set (in that example, the number, shading, and shape features are all the same while the colors are all different). Also, a single empty purple squiggle, two lined green diamonds, and three solid red ovals make a set. Got that? Good. If not, click through the gallery of images from the app starting here to see how the game's designers explain things.

If you want to give Set a try for free, you can try an online daily puzzle here, or download the very limited lite version of the iPhone app here. For learning the game, the app's tutorial is tremendously helpful. Keep reading to find out more about how the game works, or doesn't, on the iPhone.




The Game

First released in 1988, Set is a perfect light card came. Part puzzle, part race, watching players who enjoy the game stare intently at a table with the 12 cards played out in front of them and shout "Set!" is an absolute joy. The first person to see a set calls it out, takes the tree cards into their score pile and three new cards are laid out. If there is ever a situation where the 12 cards do not contain a set - something that is geekily fun to prove - you simply deal three more cards and go from there. If someone misidentifies a set, they lose three cards from their score pile back into the deck. The game ends when all the cards have been dealt and all the possible sets have been found. Whoever snagged the most cards wins. Reshuffle, deal 'em out again and play it again and again until everyone's sick of staring at squiggly lines and stripes.

The App

What's most frustrating about this app, the first offering from Pockent (also available for Android, apparently), is that it's so close yet maddeningly far from perfect. With just a little more effort, the app could completely replace the deck of cards. We'd need a way to enter the number of players, name them, and a method of play that goes through the deck. When someone sees a set, they'd hit a "found" button, identify which player they are, and then touch the cards they think are a set. Sounds great, right? Well, that style of play is not available in the app.

Instead, the app is built for single-player use only. Sure, you can kind of shoehorn in ways to play with friends, but none of the app's game modes truly recreate the intense thrill of going head-to-head with friends.

The app comes with four modes, with basic or advanced play available in each mode. Basic just means that one of the features (shading) doesn't make an appearance and only nine cards a dealt. In advanced mode, all four features matter and 12 cards are dealt. The four game modes include:

• Arcade: You have just one minute to find sets but, if you find enough to reach the next level (which changes as the game goes on), you're given more time. Cards are replaced as you find sets.
• Classic: Find ten sets as quickly as possible. Cards are replaced.
• Puzzle: Nine (or 12) cards are laid out and you need to find all four (or six) sets hidden in them. No time limit and the cards dealt stay on the table.
• Timed: You have two minutes to find as many sets as you can. Cards are replaced.

So, with the Arcade, Classic or Timed mode, it is kind of possible to play two (or more) player Set, but it's not quite the same deal. Here's hoping any possible iPad version of this app respects its roots and allows real multiplayer games with the full deck of cards.

The app's clear graphics and simple look work great. The only problem, carried over from the card game, is that people who are red-green colorblind might have difficulty identifying colors correctly. The app really should include an option to set the three colors on the cards to whatever a player wants, making it possible for anyone to enjoy. Well, anyone who can get what a set is, anyway.

Something about Set just screams higher level math. And yet, when you're playing, it's simply fun. But, speaking of getting geeky with Set, check out this paper (PDF) about the ACTSet program for Mac OS X called "How to Construct a Believable Opponent using Cognitive Modeling in the Game of Set." Whew.

TUAWReview: Set card game on the iPhone is oh so close to the perfect puzzle app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Thinkware of Korea will release its iNAVI KE100 GPS navigation system on March 22nd, 2010. The gadget features Thinkware’s upgraded 3D electronic map “iNAVI Real 3D” that provides useful information on the 3D environment structure through a 7-inch high-resolution LCD screen in a photo realistic way. Additionally, the gadget has a 900MHz processor, a SiRF V6 GPS, an integrated DMB, video and audio playback, and multiple sensors. The 8GB version of Thinkware iNAVI KE100 retails for 409,000 Won ($361). [AVING]

Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Filed under: Software

I never actually used Iris (my image editor of choice is still Pixelmator), but the one-window image editor released a few years ago certainly had its share of fans. Unfortunately, those fans may be disappointed to hear that Iris' developer, Nolobe, has suspended development on the app. Nolobe's principal Matthew Drayton says that back in 2007, when Iris started development, there were no cheap yet quality image editors, and nowadays, the app has simply become a "me too" app. He doesn't want to do that, so he's out.

Fortunately, however, Iris owners aren't completely left in the lurch -- Drayton highly recommends Acorn, and anyone who currently owns Iris will be able to get a free upgrade to that app. Sad to see that a quality image editor is calling it quits, but the reasons seem legit and the transition should go smoothly. If you own Iris, watch your email for directions on how to upgrade, or contact Nolobe yourself.

It's not all glum news from Nolobe: the company has a great deal going now for its flagship FTP client, Interarchy. Commemorating the two-year anniversary of an office-gutting fire (well, maybe it is kinda glum, now that we think about it), the Interarchy Fire Sale offers a steep discount on the app for the next week, along with discount codes for several other leading indie apps (including Acorn). The $19.95 Interarchy 9 licenses are valid for free upgrades to version 10 (now in beta), which adds up to a savings of almost $70.

[via DF]

TUAWIris suspends development, users can upgrade to Acorn for free originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Filed under: WWDC

It's March. It's the month where beer turns green, where the road repair crews start taking over the midwest of the United States, and when Apple usually announces its Worldwide Developers' Conference dates. With the hotly anticipated iPad introduction this year, more devs than ever are looking forward to seeing what WWDC will have on offer.

Will WWDC bring the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement and the hardware refresh that we've speculated about? Or will the iPhone OS family remain in the 3.x generation for the foreseeable future? (The current release for the iPhone and iPod touch are at 3.1.3. The iPad will ship with firmware 3.2.) That's the question that has a lot of devs scratching their head.

In the past two years, March has been the time when new iPhone SDKs were provided to developers, with the actual firmware released a few months later, somewhat in sync with WWDC. This year, with the iPad release due for the first week of April, the iPhone refresh seems to have been pushed out, or even to the side.

Will Apple's WWDC announcement help clarify where we stand in the iPhone lifecycle? That's hard to say. I know a lot of devs are hoping that a new beta SDK will debut sometime in April, once the iPad has been released; with the new version focusing on the iPhone, WWDC sessions would follow up on that build. It would make sense to bring the iPhone up to at least 3.2, so that firmware releases remain in sync across all iPhone OS devices; however, by Jim Dalrymple's estimation we won't see a unified firmware version for both families until the autumn.

What about iPhone OS 4.0? With the WWDC keynote being the only remaining scheduled event keynote in the Apple yearly cycle, it would make sense for Apple to use that platform to announce major a iPhone OS update, or a major Mac OS update for that matter. However, the bottom line is this: Apple keeps its secrets. We'll know when they tell us. That can make third-party planning challenging -- whether you want to schedule flights to California for WWDC, or prepare your applications for major firmware updates. We've emailed Apple for clarification on WWDC timing, and have yet to hear back.

Here's a quick run-down of past TUAW WWDC announcement posts for your reference.

	WWDC '09 Details Posted Spring is in the air, although we're in the midst of a blizzard here in the Denver area. That means one thing -- the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is coming soon!Eric over at...		Apple announces WWDC 08 dates With the iPhone SDK announcement last week, some of us here at TUAW were expecting a Worldwide Developer Conference date to be announced. Thankfully, the world has been put to rights, as Apple has...
	AppleInsider: WWDC to take place June 11th - 15th Take this with a grain of sodium chloride, but AI is reporting that "people familiar with conference planning" have tipped them off to the dates of this year's World Wide Developers Conference....	Also of interest: Apple's WWDC dates announced Rumor: Moscone schedule + "corporate event" = Verizon iPhone?

TUAWAnticipating WWDC originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Filed under: iPad

The Wall Street Journal has written that Apple is scrambling to get everything ready for the iPad's release on April 3rd -- not only has it already "sold hundreds of thousands of the device, [according to] people familiar with the matter," but Apple is also working hard to try and "nail down" several big content deals with television companies, having put their original drive for print media on hold for the moment.

Not really news in and of itself, as almost everyone expects content to be a big part of the iPad's revenue, but it is a little surprising to hear that Apple is still fighting to get deals done. The WSJ says that some content owners feel that the iPad is a threat to their current revenue streams -- the same old story that we've always heard about iTunes content delivery.

Of course, none of this comes directly from Apple, but they obviously wouldn't confirm if they didn't have all of the deals they wanted squared away before the device's release. The shift from print to multimedia may have something to do with it -- the iPad was originally introduced, along with iBooks, as a reader device, with the additional bonus of being able to play movies. But now that the ad has been premiered on the Oscars and a little more buzz has grown up around the multimedia possibilities, Apple may be more pressured to deliver on release day. We'll have to see -- I doubt that all of those iPad preorders will want to return their device if they can't watch all of their favorite shows on it, but obviously Apple wants to have the biggest library they can at launch.

TUAWWSJ: Hundreds of thousands of iPads sold, Apple scrambling for content deals originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

We get up close and personal with the Palm Pre Plus smartphone for Verizon.

Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Filed under: Apple

A new Apple patent is going around that offers up something called "iGroups" functionality -- it seems to be a kind of location-based social networking, including an ad-hoc currency functionality between a crowd of Apple devices. It's pretty interesting, though it sounds more like an idea Apple is playing with than an actual service they're going to debut. They specifically mention rock concerts and tradeshows (including WWDC), with the plan that someone would start up a "group," and then individual group members in the same location (determined by GPS) would be able to hook into that group and/or exchange contact info or "tokens" with other members of the same group. Not quite a Foursquare or Facebook competitor (this definitely seems like a much more local service), but a new kind of ad-hoc network based on the idea that everyone in the area who is using an Apple device can connect up in new ways.

The "token" idea is interesting, too -- it adds a gaming element to the situation that seems very un-Apple. That, more than anything else, is what makes me think this is Apple just covering their bases rather than securing an idea that they plan to put into action. Still, a lot of Apple's services (MobileMe, iWork, and so on) tend to be more traditional rather than innovative -- they innovate on hardware and often play catch-up on software -- they do it well, of course, but their specialty is polish, not necessarily. Diving into a newer arena like social networking would be an interesting move for Apple.

TUAWiGroups patent suggests Apple is looking at social networking originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Attempting to paint itself as an innovator, HTC's official response to Apple's impending patent lawsuit gives the Cupertino company a jab in the ribs over a number of HTC firsts, including the first phone with a 3.5-inch color touch screen back in 2002.

Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Filed under: iPad

News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch was interviewed last week by Fox Business Channel. During the interview Murdoch blasts Google for stealing his content and talks about how tablet devices will reinvigorate the advertising industry for new media.

As for the iPad, Murdoch states, "...all media will be coming to the iPad whether it be music, or books, or newspapers or movies" and contrasts it with the "black and white" Kindle. He imagines reading a newspaper article with a photograph in it and just touching the photograph to watch it become a video.

He goes on to say that the iPad is physically "small to start with" but says "there'll be more iPads" implying that they'll eventually come in larger sizes. Even though he is one of the most important people in the media world, Murdoch's comments are most likely conjecture and not inside knowledge. Skip to 1:45 for the iPad mention.

[via 9to5Mac]

TUAWRupert Murdoch loves the iPad, sees everything in the world on it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod

Posted under Cameras, Computers, GPS Navi, Gadgets, Monitors, Notebooks, PC Accessories, Printers, Scanners, iPod