The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20120104142643/http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/app-store

  • Kindle Fire added to Apple app store suit against Amazon

    A web screenshot of Amazon's Appstore that Apple included, along with other examples, in its amended complaint against the company.

    By Suzanne Choney

    Apple has filed an amended complaint against Amazon, accusing it of unfair competition by further tweaking the "Appstore" name for customers of the new Kindle Fire, saying the change is "likely to confuse consumers."

    Apple launched its "App Store" in July 2008, and since then, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the company's application to register "App Store" as a trademark. Since then, of course, app stores become a familiar phrase to users of many different phones, but other companies have come up with different names for them, be they subtly different ("BlackBerry App World") or more clearly distinguished ("Android Market").

    The Cupertino company filed suit in federal court against Amazon last spring to stop it from using the "Amazon Appstore Developer Portal," and other similar app store references for its app program. A preliminary injunction was denied.

    But in a second complaint filed this week, Apple said that in September, as Amazon prepared for the Kindle Fire's release:

    ... Amazon began altering its use of the infringing mark by omitting or de-emphasizing the use of the "for Android" suffix to the “Amazon Appstore” phrase. For example, when Amazon announced in late September 2011 that it would introduce a new hardware product named the Kindle Fire ... Amazon promoted the Fire’s ability to use Amazon’s mobile software download service but omitted the “for Android” phrase when using the APPSTORE mark.

    ... Amazon’s alteration of its usage does not appear to be limited to promotions connected to the Fire. Set forth below is an image obtained from Amazon’s website on November 7, 2011. That image shows Amazon’s use of the phrase “Amazon Appstore Gift Cards” in large type with references to “for Android” or to “Android” in smaller, less prominent type...

    Amazon has not commented on the suit itself.

    Meanwhile, the app store name war goes on. Microsoft filed a legal challenge to Apple's trademark approval earlier this year with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In that suit, Microsoft said "the combined term 'app store' is commonly used in the trade, by the general press, by consumers, by Apple’s competitors ... as the generic name for online stores featuring apps." (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.) The company calls its app store "Windows Marketplace."

    In its amended complaing against Amazon, Apple said of its App Store that:

    ...to date, there have been more than 18 billion downloads of programs through the service by more than 250 million devices worldwide. An average of over a million downloads take place every hour worldwide. There are currently more than 500,000 software programs available for download on the APP STORE service. Apple has extensively advertised, marketed and promoted the APP STORE service and the APP STORE mark, spending millions of dollars on print, television, and internet advertising.

    And, the company noted, Amazon's use of "Appstore" is also likely to "dilute the distinctiveness of Apple’s APP STORE mark, to tarnish the image of Apple’s APP STORE mark, to misrepresent the nature, characteristics and qualities of Amazon’s mobile download service and/or to deceive or have a tendency to deceive a substantial segment of consumers into believing that Amazon’s service has the nature, characteristics, and/or qualities of Apple’s APP STORE service."

    — Via ArsTechnica

    Related stories:

    Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

  • 'Shadowgun' aims to be the iPhone's 'Gears of War'

    Madfinger

    Forthcoming game "Shadowgun" promises to put some "Gears of War" into your smartphone.

    By Winda Benedetti

    It seems Madfinger Games is out to prove that you don't have to build a casual, bird-flinging puzzler to make a hit smartphone game.

    Perhaps more importantly, the studio — based in the Czech Republic — wants to prove that smartphones and tablets can deliver high-quality shooting games that will please the hardcore gaming masses.

    Madfinger plans to launch its highly anticipated game "Shadowgun" for iPhones and iPads this Wednesday. It's a third-person shooter they say was inspired by "Gears of War," the beloved hardcore gaming franchise that makes its home on the Xbox 360.

    And when it comes to "Shadowgun," MadFinger is making some big promises, calling it "the most advanced handheld game in the market" — one that will offer gamers "the same quality expected from console gaming systems."

    The gist of the game is this:

    SHADOWGUN puts players into the role of John Slade, a professional bounty hunter in the year 2350. Slade’s mission: hunt down Dr. Edgar Simon, renowned geneticist and former employee of the trans-galactic corporation Toltech Enterprises. Players must lead “shadowgun” John Slade as he infiltrates Dr. Simon’s mountain fortress and fights his personal army of mutants, cyborgs, and genetically-enhanced humanoids. Using state-of-the-art weaponry, ships, and the assistance of S.A.R.A.—Slade’s personal android assistant.

    And if you want to see it in action, check out this launch trailer.

    If the trailer is any indication, "Shadowgun" certainly looks top-notch.

    Of course, how well a third-person shooter handles on an iDevice is another question. ("Shadowgun" will be coming to Android devices shortly after the iOS release.) Making core games enjoyable to play when smartphones don't have any thumbsticks remains something of a sticking point. It's one of the reason core gamers often dismiss smartphone/tablet games and find themselves drawn to Sony's forthcoming PlayStation Vita portable game machine (and its two thumbsticks) instead.

    That said, while casual physics, puzzle and word games like "Angry Birds," "Tiny Wings" and "Words with Friends" remain the reigning kings of smartphone gaming, a growing number of titles with a hardcore bent — "Infinity Blade," and "Rage" for example — are successfully making their way to these devices.

    Though they probably won't be gunning down those furious fowl any time soon, perhaps they might one day pluck a few of their feathers.

    For more gaming news, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+.  And be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page here.

  • Apple doesn't want you to play this smartphone game

    Molleindustria

    "Phone Story" - banned from the App Store -- tells the not-so-happy stories associated with smartphone production. The above portion of the game takes a look at the many suicides committed by workers who manufacture our phones.

    By Winda Benedetti

    It seems there's a smartphone game about smartphone manufacturing that one of the most famous smartphone makers doesn't want you to play.

    The game app — called "Phone Story" — was available in Apple's App Store for a few days before Apple yanked it from its virtual shelves on Tuesday.

    Created by indie developers Molleindustria, "Phone Story" is a collection of four mini games designed to show the horrible human and environmental costs of smartphone manufacturing and sales.

    As Molleindustria explains:

    Phone Story is a game for smartphone devices that attempts to provoke a critical reflection on its own technological platform. Under the shiny surface of our electronic gadgets, behind its polished interface, hides the product of a troubling supply chain that stretches across the globe.

    The games give players a look at coltan mineral mining in the Congo (a mineral vital to phone production), at the horrible manufacturing conditions at Foxconn, the suicides that plague the phone production process and at the planned obsolescence of our gadgets before ending on a not-so-cheery look at the gadget-induced eWaste polluting our planet.

    This isn't the first time Molleindustria has created a game designed to make players ask themselves some uncomfortable questions. This group previously released a Web game called "Operation: Pedopriest" about the Catholic Church's cover-up of sexual abuses committed by priests. It also released "Faith Fighter" — a fighting game that takes a satirical look at the religious wars — and "Leaky World" — a game based around the ongoing WikiLeaks controversy.

    Molleindustria

    "Phone Story" takes a look at the toxic waste our devices leave behind.

    Though Apple initially approved "Phone Story" and posted it to the App Store on Sept. 9, the company yanked the game Tuesday. On its website, Molleindustria said Apple told them the game violates the following guideline codes:

    15.2 Apps that depict violence or abuse of children will be rejected
    16.1 Apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected
    21.1 Apps that include the ability to make donations to recognized charitable organizations must be free
    21.2 The collection of donations must be done via a web site in Safari or an SMS

    Apple slapped Molleindustria with the last two violations because the developers have vowed to redirect all the money they make on the game to non-profit organizations working to stop the events depicted in the game (the first group being SACOM - Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior).

    But the developers insist, "We contest the violation 21.1 and 21.2 since it's not possible to make donations through Phone Story. Molleindustria simply pledged to redirect the revenues to no-profit organizations, acting independently."

    And Molleindustria hasn't given up trying to get the game reinstated to the App Store. The developers say they are considering producing a new version of the game "that depicts the violence and abuse of children involved in the electronic manufacturing supply chain in a non-crude and non-objectionable way."

    Though, how one goes about making the abuse of child laborers not objectionable remains to be seen. After all, the objectionable nature of such a thing is very much the point.

    Meanwhile Molleindustria has just released a version of "Phone Story" to the Android Market for $1. (It should be noted that Android phones are no less a part of the problem than iPhones. The Android Market, however, is far less strict in its app approval process.)

    No matter what phone you play the game on, the developers urge you to "keep Phone Story on your device as a reminder of your impact."

    (Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up.)

    For more game news, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+. And be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page here.

  • Top 8 expected features of Windows 8

    By Avram Piltch
    Laptop

    Never has so much been at stake for Microsoft in a single product release. After the successful launch of Windows 7 in 2009, the company continues to rule the desktop, but has faltered in the emerging tablet space. The next version of its popular operating system, codenamed Windows 8, is designed to bridge the gap between PCs and slates, but will it be enough to help the world’s leading software company catch up to its competitors in the mobile space when it launches sometime in 2012?

    Just as important, will Windows 8 have the kind of compelling features that made Windows 7 a must-have upgrade for consumers and businesses alike? We’ve gathered together the top 8 announced or rumored features of Microsoft’s upcoming OS so you can decide for yourself. (Msnbc.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Touch-friendly user interface
    Say goodbye to the Start Menu, at least when it comes to the main desktop. Microsoft has demoed a flashy new user interface filled with touch-friendly live tiles that show everything from the news to your social media updates. Windows 8 also supports full-screen HTML 5 applications on the desktop and the ability to switch between apps with a single swipe to the left or right.

    “Tiles are better than icons,” Jensen Harris, director of PM: Windows User Experience, said in a demo video. “They have a little more space for the app to show its personality. Like the weather app can just show you the temperature without you having to open it.”

    Despite the slickness of the new OS, Microsoft may have a hard time convincing users that an interface that looks more like Windows Phone 7 than Windows 7 will work well on non-touch devices.

    "On a PC where you are still using a keyboard and mouse, or a laptop, where you don’t necessarily want to touch your screen, or only rely on a touch pad, I think it’s a harder sell,” said ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley. “I just can’t see myself — the way I work, and the way that I know a lot of other people work — having to click through those tiled boxes on the screen in order to find a program."

    Fortunately, a traditional-style Windows desktop will be available for apps that require it. However, it's not clear whether users will be able to disable tile mode entirely.

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Snap for multi-tasking
    By default, Windows 8 won't even have traditional windows as native apps will run full screen without title bars or minimize/maximize widgets. To see more than one program at a time, you'll be able to "snap" one app to the left while another sits on the right. You can then adjust the dividing line between the programs to show more or less of each. Microsoft's Harris demoed Snap in this Microsoft video.

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Improved file copy feature
    Windows' obtuse file copying function has been a minor annoyance for years. Every copy operation has its own dialog box that shows you a single progress bar which may or may not provide an accurate estimate of how long the operation will take to complete.

    With Windows 8, Microsoft puts all current copy operations into a single dialog box where you can check their progress and pause/resume them. You'll also have access to a more detailed report that shows the file transfer rate of each file copy and a more transparent warning when you try to copy one version of a file over another.

    Unfortunately, the estimates won't be more precise. In a blog post, Microsoft says that "estimating the time remaining to complete a copy is nearly impossible to do with any precision because there are many unpredictable and uncontrollable variables involved."

    Courtesy of Laptop

    ARM processor support
    Windows 8 will be the first Microsoft operating system to run on ARM-based processors in addition to traditional x86 chips from Intel and AMD. ARM processors such as Nvidia’s Tegra, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and TI’s OMAP have dominated the smartphone and tablet space because they’re great at low-power, connected computing.

    Windows 8 for ARM will support a new mode called “always on, always connected” that allows any device to act like a phone, remaining in standby mode for hours without disconnecting from the Internet, then waking instantly the minute you need them to.

    At Computex Taipei, Microsoft VP of Windows Planning Mike Angiulo showed that both an ARM device and a standard x86 PC could run the same piano playing application. He also demoed a notebook based Nvidia’s quad core Kal El CPU that could run Microsoft Office and print documents to a standard printer

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Web apps on the desktop
    Like HP with its WebOS and RIM with BlackBerry Tablet OS, Microsoft plans to support a new class of programs called “Tailored Apps” that will use standard web languages such as HTML 5 and JavaScript, but be able to interact with the hardware and file system. By supporting these well-known languages, Microsoft can attract an army of additional developers and, since these they run through a browser engine, compatibility across both ARM and x86 hardware platforms is assured.

    However, we don’t know exactly how developers using Microsoft’s .NET framework and other popular programming languages will be able to build apps that work on both the ARM and x86 flavors of Windows 8. Will they be able to code once, run everywhere?

    “At the highest level, people hear, oh it’s just the same code and it can run in both places, but we don’t really know that that is true,” ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley said. “And in fact, some of the things Microsoft said about having to rework office so that it works on Windows on ARM make me think it isn’t true.”

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Windows 8 app store
    With Apple adding a Mac App Store for to OS X and everyone from Amazon to Lenovo getting into the app store game on mobile, a Windows 8 app store seems like a no-brainer. We don't know much about the look, feel, pricing or selection of the store because Microsoft's only official word on it comes in a blog post from Windows Division President Steven Sinofsky where he simple lists "App Store" as one of the many teams working on Windows 8.

    However, in April, Chinese site CnBeta posted the picture above, claiming that it came from a leaked build of Windows 8. Given the windowed appearance of this picture, we can only guess that this is either a fake, an early version or a version designed for Windows 7 users. We suspect that the final Windows 8 app store will have the same kind of tiled interface as other native Win 8 apps.

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Native USB 3.0 support
    With speeds up to 10 times as fast as USB 2.0 and the ability to carry more voltage for charging, USB 3.0 offers a whole new world of speed and convenience. Though USB 3.0 controllers and devices will work under Windows 7 with third-party drivers, Microsoft is building native drivers into Windows 8 and developing an efficient new USB software stack. Your blazing fast external SSD should work better than ever!

    Courtesy of Laptop

    Kinect gesture control and other input methods
    Microsoft hasn't announced support for Kinect-style gesture control, but long-time observers feel confident that when Windows 8 launches in 2012, it will be there. Given Kinect's popularity on Xbox, we tend to agree.

    Windows Supersite's Paul Thurott told us he expects Microsoft to not only support gestures but all kinds of new input methods, including voice control and facial recognition.

    "This doesn’t get a lot of press, but one of the big advantages, one of the big deals about kinect, even now in this early version is the voice-control stuff," he said. "People stand there and they wave their arms around in the air, and it’s interesting and it makes for a good demo, but the truth is, when you’re watching TV, it’s actually kind of nice to control the playback and the navigation with your voice."

    More from Laptop:

  • Windows 8 will have its own app store

    Microsoft

    By Suzanne Choney

    The next version of Microsoft's operating system, Windows 8, will include an app store so that software can be downloaded directly from the online store to the computer.

    Microsoft follows Apple's lead by doing this; Apple started its Mac App Store last January, and has showcased it as being the main way to buy its new operating system, OS X Lion.

    While word has been that the app store direction was where Microsoft was headed, a recent posting on the company's own blog confirmed it, with an ever-so-slight, but significant, inclusion of it in a long list of working Windows 8 groups. (Msnbc.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

    As one of our colleagues noted last spring, another website "beat Microsoft to the punch with its own Windows app store, Allmyapps.com," which "announced that it has attracted 100,000 users in just three months."

    There's no set release date for Windows 8 yet, but that will give Microsoft time to square away the name for its app store. While the blog lists it as App Store, capital "a," capital "s," it's treading on a sore spot with Apple, which has applied to trademark "App Store."

    Microsoft has filed a legal challenge with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, saying "the combined term 'app store' is commonly used in the trade, by the general press, by consumers, by Apple’s competitors and even by Apple’s founder and CEO Steve Jobs, as the generic name for online stores featuring apps."

    The Redmond company calls its Windows Phone app store the Windows Marketplace, which sounds more like a place to buy fish and fruit. But if it doesn't stick with "app store," there could be another name available with the demise of HP/Palm's webOS: "App Catalog."

    — Via Tech Crunch

    Related stories:

    Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

  • 'Fruit Ninja' slices and dices the Kinect competition

    Halfbrick

    Dust off your Kinect controller and get out a sweat rag. The new Xbox 360 game "Fruit Ninja Kinect" will have you karate chopping ... and sweating ... your way to a very good time.

    By Winda Benedetti

    Move over "Dance Central," there's a new 'best Kinect game ever' in town.

    "Fruit Ninja Kinect" — which has you karate chopping flying fruit from midair — is one tight, absorbing and instantly fun game for the Xbox 360. Without a doubt, this is the Kinect game you'll be busting out at parties (as well as when you're all alone) for the foreseeable future. Or at least until "Dance Central 2" arrives on the scene.

    "Fruit Ninja" — which launches on Xbox Live Wednesday — got its start as an iPhone app and quickly became a hit on Android and Windows Phone 7 devices, sucking in hundreds of thousands of players with its utterly addictive fruit-slicing action.

    The goal is simple enough — bananas, coconuts, pineapples, etc. are tossed up on the screen before you and, like a ninja, you must put your quick reflexes into action. In the smart-phone/tablet version of the game, you slice the fruit with your fingers on the touch screen, racking up as many points as you can and multiplying your score by slashing multiple pieces of fruit in one fell slice. Depending on the mode you play, you must also avoid explosives tossed up amid the fruit and try not to let fruit fall off the screen uncut.

    The Xbox version of the game has players doing pretty much the same thing — you'll need to slice the fruit that's sent sailing onto your TV screen as quickly as you can. But rather than using fingers on touch-screen, the Kinect camera tracks your arms, legs and body movements as you karate chop and kick your way to fruit-splitting domination.

    The game has been one of my long-running mobile addictions and I'm happy to report that this Xbox 360 version is everything I had hoped it would be. It comes complete with those satisfying snicking, whooshing and fruit-splattery sound effects that haunted my after-game dreams. Most importantly ... I had worried about lag or delay ruining the Xbox version of the game, but it turns out Kinect tracks your movements with delightful precision.

    Of course, even if you were a black belt "Fruit Ninja" master on your phone, switching from the small screen to the big screen will take some adjustment. Fire up "Fruit Ninja Kinect" and you'll see yourself appear on-screen as a shadow. You'll need to keep an eye on your shadow as you get used to knocking down fruit with your hands and — if you're feeling especially ninja-like — your feet.

    The game does come packed with modes that will be familiar to those who've played on smart phones – Classic, Zen and Arcade.

    In Classic mode, you'll need to slice fruit for as long as you can, but if you let three uncut fruit fall from the screen or if you hit a bomb, it's game over. In Zen mode, you don't have to worry about bombs or escaping fruit, you'll simply need to get as many points as possible in 90 seconds. And in Arcade mode, you'll have 60 seconds to score as many points as possible, but this time around hitting bombs subtracts points while slicing bonus bananas will double your score, slow down time or spew a fountain of fruit onto your screen.

    There's also a separate Challenge mode, that presents you with a variety of increasingly difficult goals to try and beat.

    But probably the most fun you'll have here is with the Party mode. A quick warning though: It took about 30 seconds of playing this game with my husband to realize that the local multiplayer option is a face punch waiting to happen.

    Halfbrick

    Two-player "Fruit Ninja Kinect" is a blast. But just remember, it's not supposed to be a full-contact sport.

    Whether you're competing against each other simultaneously on a split screen or working together side-by-side in the collaborative mode, the two-player game will have you flinging your arms about with gusto in close proximity of one another. So BE CAREFUL.

    For some safer and friendlier competition, you'll be able to pit your score against that of your Xbox Live friends on a leaderboard.

    "Fruit Ninja Kinect" will cost you 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and it's worth every pineapple-smashing penny. Oh yeah, and one more warning: You might want to keep a towel on hand. You'll need it to wipe the sweat from your Fruit Ninja brow.

    For more game news, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+.  And be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page here.

  • Apple's App Store hits 15 billion downloads

    The App Store's top apps on Thursday, July 7, 2011.

    By Suzanne Choney

    More than 15 billion apps have been downloaded from Apple's App Store the company said Thursday, and there are now more than 425,000 apps, from gas price trackers to gas sound makers.

    Apple launched the much-imitated App Store three years ago in July 2008, and reached the "10 billion apps downloaded" mark last January. Reaching 15 billion in a little more than six months — a 50 percent increase since January — shows the continuing power and draw of the iPhone, as well as the iPod Touch and iPad, now in 90 countries.

    The company also confirmed what had been reported a week ago, that there are now more than 100,000 apps, or programs, in the App Store that have been created expressly for the iPad.

    "In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a press release.

    “Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads.”

    Apple, which takes 30 percent of app revenue and gives app developers 70 percent, said it has paid app developers more than $2.5 billion since 2008.

    And leading the top five paid downloads: Games, with everyone's favorite time-suck, "Angry Birds," at No. 1, followed by "Fruit Ninja," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Tiny Wings" and "Tetris."

    That list jibes with a finding this week from Nielsen that games are the most popular mobile app category, at least in the U.S., and that users of Apple's iOS mobile operating system spend almost twice as much time — 14.7 hours a month — playing games "as the average mobile gamer."

    Related stories:

    Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

  • App Addicted: 'Supergay' iPhone game delivers hero-powered gay pride

    KlicRainbow

    iPhone and iPad game "Supergay" offers up some gay-pride-themed gaming along with a comic-book-style coming-out story with a twist.

    By Winda Benedetti

    There have been plenty of apps that have tried (and thankfully failed) to promote a hate-filled anti-gay message in Apple's App Store. But should the powers of darkness attack once again, fear not! "Supergay" is here to save the day.

    Or, well, at least it's here to deliver some gay-pride-themed gaming along with a comic-book-style coming-out story with a twist.

    The new episodic app released for the iPhone and the iPad is called "Supergay & the Attack of his Ex-Girlfriends" ($2.99).

    The basics are this: You play Dr. Tom Palmer, a young man on his way to becoming the pink-and-black-clad hero known as Supergay. As the game opens, we find Tom working on a controversial cloning project while coming to terms with the fact that he's not really into the ladies ... all of this right before he's about to wed his boss' daughter.

    Nefarious secrets are afoot and a cloning experiment goes wrong as Tom tries to live a lie rather than admit the truth. Check out the trailer here:

    As of right now, you can play the first ten chapters of "Supergay" which present a variety of gaming styles — fighting, stealth, racing and there's even a dance-filled rhythm game. If you find yourself in a tight spot while fending off legions of, say, cloned ex-girlfriends, you can unleash our hero's Rainbow Ray. No, really.

    The gameplay itself is not entirely, well, super. Instead, it's a touch Average Joe. The controls are pretty rudimentary and I did experience a couple of crashes while playing it on my iPad (though I did not lose any progress).

    But there is plenty of variety to keep things interesting here and the comic-book art style is nicely done. Meanwhile, the story (funny, touching, corny) grows increasingly intriguing as you unlock each chapter. But what I really dig is the game's tagline and ongoing message: "Be yourself."

    Klicrainbow

    Which leads me to the best thing about this game: The fact that it stars a gay superhero. Make all the Ambiguously Gay Duo cracks you like, but gay characters in video games are sadly few and far between, and even more rarely are given anything close to a leading role.

    Mainstream triple A games avoid wading into these controversial waters, so it's up to the little developers to take this kind of risk. And thank goodness they do.

    "Supergay" comes from Barcelona publisher Klicrainbow. They say this is, in fact, the first game to star a gay superhero. I'm not familiar with every single video game that features a man in tights so I can't say for sure if this is accurate, but I certainly can't think of another.

    While I hope the "Supergay" chapters that are "coming soon" feature a bit more polish, "Supergay" is already a step in the right direction. The world (or at least the App Store) is ready to be saved by a super-gay hero.

    Tune in to In-Game for new installments in App Addicted, our ongoing feature that uncovers some of the best and most unique games to play on your phone and tablet.  

    For related news, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

     

  • Google de-feathers infected 'Angry Birds' apps

    Rovio

    Don't confuse those malware-infected dirty birds for the real "Angry Birds."

    By Winda Benedetti

    There are "Angry Birds" ... and there are dirty birds. And you do not want to get the two mixed up.

    Google has removed ten "Angry Birds"-related applications from the official Android Market after a university professor discovered that they really contain spyware rather than hours of bird-flinging fun.

    The apps – which were not made by Rovio (the Finnish company responsible for the hit game "Angry Birds") – were created by three different developers and posed as "Angry Birds" add-ons and cheats.

    Xuxian Jiang, an assistant professor of computer science at North Carolina State University, was the first to spot them and report them to the world and to Google. Jiang was working on a research project when he discovered the "stealthy" Android spyware called "Plankton" which sends the phone's information to a remote server and has the ability to steal users' accounts among other things. You can read his post on the discovery here for all the geeky details.

    Google removed the apps the same day Jiang informed them of the malware.

    But this is just the most recent example of the downside to Google's more open app acceptance process.  Back in March, Google had to go all Rambo on some 50 or so rogue malicious apps that had wormed their way into the Android Market. The company not only ripped them from the market but remotely deleted them from the phones of users who'd downloaded them.

    Perhaps Apple's strict/stifling application review process doesn't seem so overbearing after all?

    (Thanks to VentureBeat for the heads up.)

    For more gaming news, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

  • Banned apps: How Apple decides

    Smuggle Truck, Tawkon

    By Ariel Schwartz
    FastCompany

    Not long ago, Apple rejected yet another seemingly offensive iPhone app: Smuggle Truck. The app originally asked players to smuggle an immigrant-filled truck across the desert  — a satiric take on the struggles of immigrants designed to raise awareness about immigration issues, according to the game's developers. Apple didn't get the joke, though, so the Smuggle Truck team changed the app's name to "Snuggle Truck" and swapped out immigrants for "a group of cuddly creatures escaping the wilderness for the comfort of the zoo, where they are provided plenty of food, shelter and state of the art health care." The promised zoo, if you will.

     

    The whole debacle got us thinking: is there actually some moral compass by which Apple decides apps are too offensive for the public to handle (besides what is written in the app store guidelines)? When does an app cross the line over to what Apple calls "offensive or mean-spirited commentary"? Below, we look at some other "offensive" banned iPhone apps for guideposts.

    Baby Shaker
    This one is pretty bad. The Baby Shaker app, which was approved and then quickly pulled from the app store in 2009, implores users to stop an on-screen baby from crying by shaking their iPhone until two red x's cover the baby's eyes. Simulating infanticide would have been almost guaranteed to incite riots against Apple if it hadn't moved quickly to ban the app.

    Me So Holy
    This banned app allowed users to take a picture of themselves with the iPhone camera and then stick it on the face of different religious figures. Stupid? Yes. A waste of time? Sure. But so are plenty of things in an app store filled with fart generators. In the grand scheme of banned apps, this one is pretty harmless.

    The Manhattan Declaration
    It's not as if Apple always sides with religious communities in its banning decisions. Last year, Apple banned the Manhattan Declaration, a recently released manifesto from Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders that "speaks in defense of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty. It issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere firmly to their convictions in these three areas." The app does promote homophobia and pro-life sentiments — but it never suggests that pro-choice and gay rights advocates should be harmed. Is Apple pushing its own moral beliefs here?

    Gay Cure
    This banned app from Florida-based Christian ministry Exodus International goes a step further than the Manhattan Declaration, attempting to help turn gay people straight through "biblical teaching." It also received over 150,000 signatures from a petition asking Apple to ban it — a large enough number for Apple to realize that it might be in for some seriously bad press if it didn't make a move.

    More stories from Fast Company:

    Tawkon

    This banning seems more arbitrary than anything else. The seemingly legitimate(but banned) Tawkon app analyzes the radiation given off by the iPhone during calls and notifies users when radiation levels spike to the high end of the spectrum. It's not offensive — though it does promote fear. Assuming that it works, we can only guess that Apple banned it because it didn't want users to have this kind of information available. It could make them think twice about spend so much time playing around with cell phones, after all. And ultimately, Apple just wants people to keep calling, even if tumors are growing in their heads. Which they might be. Or might not be. Hard to say at this point.

    This isn't a new complaint, of course. But in a world where everyone has a phone and every company and cause needs an app, shouldn't we have free exercise of speech and religion in the place where most of the apps are bought and sold? Apple has complete control over the kind of information you can get on your phone, and it exercises that right seemingly capriciously. We fought a revolution about that (and some tax stuff, too). Instead of taking up arms, though, all you need to do is switch to Android.

    We put in a request to Apple to ask them if they want have some secret logic that connects all their app banning, but they're notoriously tight-lipped about what makes it into the app store.

    If you're looking to make sure that your proposed app doesn't get banned, don't look to Apple for any reasonable guidelines, but remember: Don't get involved in religious or political debates, don't try to discourage users from using cell phones, and never, ever shake a baby. Feel free to help people dodge DUI checkpoints, though. In the world of Apple, pretend-smuggling a group of immigrants across the border apparently is worse than implicitly encouraging users to drive drunk.

    Reach Ariel Schwartz via Twitter or email.

    Read More:
    Most Innovative Companies: Apple

    More stories from Fast Company:

  • App Addicted: 'Max & the Magic Marker' makes its mark on iPad

    Press Play

    If you had a magic pen, what problems would you draw your way out of?

    By Winda Benedetti

    According to a new study, the thing iPad owners use their tablets for the most is ... playing games. No, not reading e-books, not even surfing the Web for information.

    That's right, 84 percent of tablet owners say they use their device to play games, while 74 percent say they use it for doing email and a mere 46 percent use it to read e-books.

    And there's a good reason gaming is leading the charge — because iPads are a really enjoyable place to play games. And it's games like "Max & the Magic Marker" that do a good job showing off the strengths tablets have to offer as gaming gadgets.

    "Max and the Magic Marker" is an award-winning indie game that first launched on PC and as a downloadable title for the Wii and then made its mobile debut on Windows Phone 7 devices.

    But with its recent jump to the iPad (as well as to the iPhone), players not only get the best price yet offered ($1.99 for iPhone, $4.99 for iPad), they get to enjoy this delightfully whimsical drawing game at its own scribbling best.

    The basic story is this: Max is a boy with a magic marker and he needs to stop the inky monster that he accidentally created. To do this, he must dive into a hand-drawn world.

    Press Play

    The game starts with some traditional side-scrolling platforming gameplay but adds a really neat drawing mechanic that is especially well suited to touch devices — and especially especially well suited to the large touchscreen on the iPad.

    When Max comes up against obstacles and enemies, you’ll draw on the iPad's touchscreen to create solutions to his problems. That is, the things you draw become physical objects in the game world. If he needs to cross a ravine, for example, draw a line to create a bridge for him. If he needs to reach something up high, draw him a staircase.

    But more than that, the game gives you plenty of room to be creative. Though you'll need to collect balls of ink and watch how much ink is stored in Max's pen, you can scribble all sorts of structures to reach your goals. Meanwhile, you can also manipulate time — pausing the action to doodle out a clever solution.

    And now that the game has moved to the iPad, everything just feels so much roomier. It's easier to let you imagination guide the way in this colorful world. And the graphics, by the way, look quite nice in iPad HD.

    No, the iDevice version of "Max & the Magic Marker" isn't without its blemishes. The touchscreen controls are less than ideal and you'll notice this especially during the trickier platforming moments. (Yes, this is typically where iPads and their touchscreen brethren do not shine in the gaming department.)

    Still, this is far from a deal breaker.  And I should add that another great thing about "Max & the Magic Marker" is that it really is the kind of game that everyone in the family can enjoy.

    The 58 levels are challenging enough for adults looking for some unique and thought-provoking puzzles to attack, while younger players are sure to get a kick out of the heroic young Max and the feel of putting finger to screen and seeing their doodles follow. (To get a peek at what it's like, try a free demo of the game online here.)

    This kind of tactile experience is one of the joys of touchscreen gaming. Speaking of which, if you like this kind of drawing puzzle game then be sure to check out the game "Crayon Physics Deluxe" for the iPhone and iPad. It too will help ensure that you spend most of your time using your iPad to play games.

    Tune in each week for a new installment of App Addicted. And if you want to feed your app need right now, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

  • App Addicted: 'Sword & Sworcery' summons magical iPad gaming

    Capy Games/Superbrothers

    By Winda Benedetti

    Steve Jobs and company have been known to use (read: over-use) the word "magical" when it comes to describing the iPad. While I don’t like to toss that word around quite so casually, I have to admit that the new "Sword & Sworcery" app is the kind of thing that makes one appreciate just how magical playing a game on the iPad can be.

    "Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP" is the full name given this game (and no, I didn’t misspell it). But calling it a "game" falls far short in descriptive power. It’s really a mix of adventure gameplay, visual art and music bound up in one tremendously enchanting application.

    At its core, "Sword & Sworcery" is an old-school adventure title. Designed by the indie developers at Capy Games, it's a game in which you're charged with leading a warrior woman known as The Scythian on a mysterious, mystical and sometimes psychedelic journey.

    Capy Games/Superbrothers

    Simply tap on your iPad's screen to guide The Scythian in her pursuit of an enchanted book called the Megatome. Investigation and puzzle solving are the order of the day, and you’ll touch, swipe and rub the screen to examine the environment and interact with objects as a dreamy narrative unfolds chapter by chapter.

    Certainly, those of you who’ve ever loved any of the "Monkey Island" or "Myst" games will feel a warm rush of nostalgia as you dive in here.

    But that’s just the bones of the thing. It is the skin that will grab you first — that is, the unique pixelated visual style that exists on the surface but pulls you deep into the game's other-worldly universe. With its nod to the 8-bit games of yore, "Sword & Sworcery" is like something you’ve seen before ... and yet never seen before. Fantastical landscapes, supernatural creatures and magical moments are all done in tiny, colorful squares courtesy of the artists at Superbrothers Inc.

    As you watch a pixelated stag jump through pixelated woods, you'll see just how breathtaking this old-meets-new art style really is.

    Audience Calibration Procedure from Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery on Vimeo.

    But if the gameplay is the bones and the graphics are the skin, then it’s Jim Guthrie’s music that is the heart and soul here. The singer/songwriter composed and performed all the music for the game and it is absolutely sublime in the way it both accompanies the player's actions and responds to them. Haunting and utterly beautiful, it will make you expect more from all your future video game scores.

    It’s so good, in fact, you might want to pick it up on iTunes in April, when you’ll find it for sale as "Sword & Sworcery LP: The Ballad of the Space Babies."

    And there’s much more to this game — a nifty battle mechanic in which you rotate your iPad to unsheathe your sword and launch into combat ... the way the real world's lunar cycle affects the game's digital world ... a built-in Twitter tool that has already inspired a growing legion of players to tweet cryptic phrases from the game.

    "Sword & Sworcery" is experimental and arty as hell in all the best ways, and yet it doesn't take itself too seriously. The dialog is often hilarious. Indeed, this curious mystical adventure walks a perfect tonal line between eerie and amusing.

    While it was still in the works, "Sword & Sworcery" won the Achievement in Art award during the 2010 Independent Games Festival's mobile gaming competition. After finally launching on the iPad late last week (for a totally worthwhile $4.99), it has already climbed the charts and, at this writing, sits in the No. 4 spot on the paid list.

    If you don’t happen to own an iPad, rest assured that "Sword & Sworcery" is coming for iPhone and iPod Touch in April. That's right, keep your eyes open and your swords ready. Steve Jobs may have promised all you Apple fans some magic ... but it's the Superbrothers and company who are delivering it.

    Tune in each week for a new installment of App Addicted. Meanwhile, check out this story for a look at a few more iPad games to help you wile away the end of your week.

    For more gaming news, check out:

    Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

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