The state of Apple's platform lock-in
I’ve written a piece for macgasm, outlining the current state of Apple’s ecosystem regarding platform lock-in.
If you’re interested in how ‘Apple’s golden cage’ — as it is sometimes called by pundits — actually looks like, I encourage you to read the article.
Horace Dediu translates RIM’s tablet platform app strategy for management-speak to English
This is worth a read.
Mr. Dediu provides a passionless translation of RIM’s Co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s remarks during the announcement of their quarterly results.
I’m very sceptical of RIM’s approach. Reading between the lines, I gather from it, that RIM’s own OS is neither ready for deployment, nor capable to do what they need it to, in order to compete with Apple.
Their decision to emulate Android apps on it that aren’t optimised for tablet computers, is a bad short-term solution at best and shows their lack of commitment to their own platform.
Amazing game demo for iOS devices
During yesterday’s press event — which you can watch here — Epic Games demoed an upcoming roleplaying game for newer iOS devices, that employs their widely used and appraised Unreal Gaming Engine.
Besides the on stage demo, the game publisher also released an iPhone app that allows the user to explore the surroundings of the unreleased game beforehand, showcasing the graphics.
I was impressed by what I had seen during the on stage demo, but simply dumbfounded by the app itself. Hero of Sparta 2, N.O.V.A and Asphalt 5 are all optimised for the Retina Display and they all look great, but this level of graphics performance I’d would not have deemed possible on the iPhone 4.
I urge every one to try it for themselves; here’s a direct link to the AppStore.
