115,000 Hits

115,000 hits. Wow this is awesome!

70,000 Hits

We have just about reached 70,000 hits. Not too long ago we only had 2,000 hits.  We aslo average about 13 people viewing our site at a time. A month ago we were lucky to have 1 person viewing our site at a time. We are growing insanely fast. Keep the hits coming!

Proximity Sensors to assist Multi-Touch Interface?

A newly published patent application discusses the possibility of incorporating additional proximity sensors (PS) around multi-touch panels to detect body parts.
This relates to the use of one or more proximity sensors in combination with one or more touch sensors in a multi-touch panel. The combination of these two different types of sensors can be used to detect the presence of one or more fingers, body parts or other objects hovering above a touch-sensitive surface or touching the touch-sensitive surface

Apple already incorporates a proximity sensor in the iPhone to turn the iPhone’s display off, but the patent application explores the concept in desktop and laptop settings. One example given is the automatic display of on-screen buttons when a finger hovers above the screen. Apple might accomplish this by embedding IR sensors within the display itself:

For example, a grid of IR receivers can be placed on the panel, allowing each IR receiver to server as a “proximity pixel” indicating the presences or absence of an object in its vicinity.

The concept is similar to an old patent from 2004 which described the integration of grid of small cameras throughout the display. That configuration had the additional advantage of capturing video. Apple use of proximity detectors could also assist in more advanced concepts they’ve explored including the detection of specific fingers used in a gesture.

The patent application is an extension of one from 2007, so doesn’t represent many new ideas, but continues to show Apple’s interest in mixing modes of input to produce a richer experience.

New Domain

New Domain. ihacklife.modmy3g.com or ihacklife.tk We now have an iPhone/iPod Touch site. for some reason it does not work when you go to ihacklife.tk only ihacklife.modmy3g.com feel free to use either one (except when on iPhone/iPod Touch!)

Cube Review

Cube, a popular first person shooting game, truly had a lot to hype to live up to. To start out with, the graphics are great, similar to Halo. The best part is that it’s free. In my opinion, it is the best, and most difficult, first person shooter in the App Store.

When you first launch the game, it quickly explains to you the controls, (important because it is really difficult to control/ play). It is surprising how great the graphics are and relatively smooth the game play is. The buttons that make you run, bring up the menu, jump, and fire are placed in each of the screens corners, sometimes being a hassle to tap while you are trying to use the accelerometer to change your direction/ camera angle. The new update (1.2) fixed the sensitive accelerometer control and loaded the images faster, providing faster game play. Also, the move and jump buttons are both on the right side, making it very hard to run and jump.

When I first tried to play the game competitively, I found my self freaking out and the screen whipping around while trying to aim on the enemy running at my. By the time I got a couple good shots off, the enemy either ran away, or I died. I also found myself running around in a “multiplayer” stage trying to find other players, when really, I failed to connect and I was the only one.

The Pros:
a) Great graphics and price (free)
b) Online play (when it works)
c) Many Levels
d) Open-source

The Cons:
a) Very hard to control, button placement can make the game very hard (move and jump button are on the same side)
b) Accelerometer is very sensitive (especially in the older versions) 
c) Online play usually doesn’t work, it seems like it can’t connect to the server.
d) No calibration option for the accelerometer
e) A lot of lag when you load a new level, especially a water level.
f) It’s only a demo, but still, it’s fun

Overall, I am happy I have this game on my iPod and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of FPS. I am looking forward to some updates from the devs, but I have no room to complain because it’s free. I would give this app 4/5 stars. 
Looking forward to the squeal and updates 

Here’s a good video review by AppVee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHI6MG66Hek

Here’s the video from the homepage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g4Em3A54h8

Here’s the iTunes Link link:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M…292763299&mt=8

Touch Grind Review

-From the creators of Labyrinth (Illusion Labs) comes Touchgrind. 
-Touchgrind is basically a skateboarding game for your iphone or iPod Touch. 
-There is no story mode. Just three game modes. You just play, no story.
-To control your skateboard you use your two fingers and you can do kick-flips, ollies, impossibles, and other moves. 
-Next, the graphics are incredibly beautiful on this. It is VERY, i mean VERY realistic.
-The sound effects are great tooo- the skateboard sounds nice and real. 
-It really takes advantages of the iPhone’s multi-touch controls and the ability to have nice graphics. 
-There are twelve skate boards which are all unlockable. They all have different skills and abilities. 
-The graphics are obviously in 3D. 
-Although the things I hope they add is the ability to create/customize your own board, add more maps, add multi-player wi-fi mode. Even though those features aren’t included, this game is still an INCREDIBLE start. =]
-This game features three game modes- Jam Session, Competition, and Warm up. 
-It also offers some tutorial videos to help you learn to play. 
-It does take a while to learn this game, but once you manage to you’ll love it. I really enjoy this game. It feels very gpood when I’m playing. All I do is put my two fingers on the screen and perform the moves as if I’d do on my feet. 
-You get high-scores, you can get timed, do grinds, chose your board, and can get 2x, 3x, etc. 
-This game is incredibly addicting as well. 
-Basically what you do is put your two fingers on the screens, and after you’ve learned how to do different moves, you try doing the motion of how you really perform the move. Then the skateboard goes high. 
-It is very cool and fun. I recommend you buy this. 
-It is available for the iPod Touch and iPhone on the App Store for $4.99. 
-It is a total of 5 mb. It is rated 4+ (ages four and above). 
-Now for the ratings:

Gameplay- 4.3/5, it is really fun to play with the realistic graphics and sounds. The controls are great. I think it should have more maps and multi-player mode, so you can verse your friends. Also i just realized the controls are a little difficult. 

Graphics- 5/5, it can’t get better than this. So realistic and beautiful. Graphics are terrific.

Price, 4.5/5, when the update which will feature multi player mode, then it will REALLY be worth the money. It is $4.99 which is a pretty decent price. I think its worth $3.99, but who cares! One more dollar won’t KILL. Worth it, buy it. 

Overall, 4.0/5, great game, great graphics, fun to play. Add multi-player and more places to play. i just realized the controls are a little difficult. Although still a great game. I bet the devs are working on an update. 

App Store Rating, 4.5/5

Now for some screenies: 

A gameplay picture. See the score on the top right.

I found this picture online. It shows how the person is using his fingers to move the skateboard. You can see the time remaining on the top right. 

See the great graphics. You can see the score you get from the move you did. 

Now you get to pick your board. It gives some information on the board as well. 

A video tutorial to show you how to play the game.

-I highly recommend you buy this if you have enough money. 
-If you are not SOOOO impatient about this game wait for a “sale” maybe for Thanksgiving or Christmas. 
-I hope you liked my Review for touchgrind. 
-Please reply and comment.

Google Admits that it’s iPhone Voice Search breaks Apple Rule’s

Quote:

Originally Posted By BetaNews A Google spokesperson confirmed to BetaNews today that the company’s new voice search for iPhone violates the terms of Apple’s SDK. But questions still linger around why the updated Google Mobile app still appears on Apple’s App Store. Apple’s App Store might have rejected some smaller developers’ applications for less, but Google confirmed to BetaNews late Wednesday that its newly updated Google Mobile app uses undocumented APIs in conducting voice searches. Specifically, the undocumented APIs are used to access the iPhone’s proximity sensor, a capability which ordinarily dims the screen when you hold the phone near your face.

Quote:

Why did Google flout Apple’s rules? The spokesperson indicated that the reason revolved around getting an “innovative and useful application” out to users as quickly as possible. That theory seems to make sense, especially in light of how Google announced the Mobile app. As previously reported in BetaNews, Google used yet another blog post to announce the voice search capability on Thursday, November 14, implying in an accompanying video that the feature was already downloadable from the App Store, when in fact, it wasn’t.

[Read the complete article on BetaNews]

Linux, Here We Come!!!

Linux is here
with support for the first and second generation iPhones as well as the first generation iPod touch

http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/62041396/linux-here-we-come

view the video HERE.

40,000 Hits

We now have 40,000 hits. Thank you for your support.   We love you!!!

How to get Cracked Apps?!

Search on Google you people. Search the name followed by .ipa

Or search cracked apps and you will find sites which have a huge collection of them.

Come on! Dont be lazy!

Apps Section For iFortner Elite only

You will be given the password for the elite members area after you donate 10dollars or more

Now you can have access to our Elite Members Area free only when you donate a few dollars or more to our community. Go to iFortnerForum.com to donate. If you are already a iFortner elite then email me hyn_shayan@hotmail.com. Thanks. IF I don’t put a password Haklab will shut the site down

Apps Section Back Up Again

Okay as Monkeyball is down I added apps from another site to the section again. Enjoy!

A Lot Of Hits!

Thanx keep the hits coming!

Monkeyball Down!

Well, Apple, it took you long enough to find us. We’re sure Mr. Haklab will take credit for this and all we have to say to that is that it took you long enough. We had a good run and honestly we are surprised we lasted this long. We don’t want to move servers again to another country to avoid DMCA as we’ve lost interest since the site first launched.

Also, want to just throw out some thanks for people who helped us along the way. Wyze (me), all the coding behind the website. Scuzzy19, where would we be without you? You were the main uploader. Thank you so much for sticking with it even though I was anal on the content of the files, but I only wanted the best from this site. PhYzIcX, you were the #2 uploader and we lost you for a while but came back at the end. sadam, for help with coding tips along the way and all the referrals and support from your forums over at www.xsellize.com. Kyek, for all the tips and help with coding and debugging as well and I want to wish you good luck to you and your site. You can contact me at any time if you need any help! Doosje, gave me a bit of code that I tested and was working but never implemented.

Also, I would be willing to sell the domain name as I have no use for it anymore. If anyone is interested, just email me wyze@themonkeysball.com.

Just want to say it’s been a fun ride and I’ll miss it and just want to part with some stats for all the curious kitties out there. Alexa ranking was 34,091 with over 20,000 unique visitors a day. And here are some screenshots for you. ..Almost forgot the screenshot of the bandwidth.

Just one more thing I’d like to share is the e-mail that was forwarded to me. I thought the followup was very funny and could go as far as not being professional as the first email..

——– Message original ——–
Sujet : RE: [URGENT] Illegal Distribution of Copyrighted Software — Immediate Action Requested
Date : Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:41:06 -0800
De : Ramage, Ian <IRamage@OMM.com>
Pour : <abuse@ovh.net>, <oles@ovh.net>
Références : <81BF9350D4F8D14F891CE7BC06F71614016F12CA@LACL3MSG2.firm.omm.com> <81BF9350D4F8D14F891CE7BC06F7161402937DF0@LACL3MSG2.firm.omm.com>

Sirs:

Please explain why the website referenced below, http://www.themonkeysball.com,
is operational again. The site is engaged in mass copyright
infringement.

—–Original Message—–
From: Ramage, Ian Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 9:14 AM
To: abuse@ovh.net; oles@ovh.net
Subject: [URGENT] Illegal Distribution of Copyrighted Software —
Immediate Action Requested
Importance: High

To Whom It May Concern:

We represent Apple Inc. (“Apple”). It has come to our attention that a
website hosted by Kimsufi.com, http://www.themonkeysball.com, is facilitating
the distribution of cracked versions of iPhone games (the “Files”) sold
on Apple’s website.
The Files are unauthorized reproductions of copyrighted material
distributed by Apple, and has been published without the permission of
Apple. Apple protects the applications sold on its website with digital
rights management technology that effectively controls access to and
copying of the applications. The publishers of this Files have
“cracked” that protection in violation of the anti-circumvention
measures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.
1201(a)(1)(A).
Apple therefore requests that you take steps to immediately disable this
website. Please notify me by reply e-mail once you have done so, and
feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,

/s/ Ian Ramage
Ian Ramage
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Embarcadero Center, 28th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: 415.984.8783
Fax: 415.984.8701
iramage@omm.com
DMCA Certification: I hereby state, under penalty of perjury, that I
have a good faith belief that the activities identified above are not
authorized by Apple, that the information in this notification is
accurate, and that I am authorized to act on behalf of Apple in this
regard.
This message and any attached documents contain information from the law
firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP that may be confidential and/or
privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not read,
copy, distribute, or use this information. If you have received this
transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply
e-mail and then delete this message.

Companies Advertising VIA iTunes AppStore?

Taking A Look At Some Applications…

I Have Found Some That Might Be “Advertising”

Take A Look:

Be Like Lil’Wayne

Pussycat Dolls PArty Pack

RhinoBall (Bolt)

The Dark Night: Hahahaha

 

Tell Me What Do You Thing…

One More iPod Competitor

In time, MySpace may build a device that competes with Apple’s popular iPod. This is what comes out from a hind dropped by Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace. Reuters reported this Friday that at the Web 2.0 summit in SF, DeWolfe said that such a device could possibly be developed by MySpace.

Currently though, the focus of DeWolfe’s company was to be the music service which incepted in September. The music industry is behind MySpace Music in a big way as Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group are involved.
Edgar Bronfman, CEO, Warner Music says that MySpace was differentitated from Apple’s offering as it gave emphasis to community and sharing as far as music was concerned and was not solely concentrated on straight ahead sales of music or devices.

MySpace is based in Santa Monica and the parent company is News Corp, Fox Interactive Division which operates out of Beverly Hills.

Fastlane Street Racing

ATOD AB has released a teaser video of their upcoming game called Fastlane Street Racing. Yes, another racing game but I have to say that this one looks quite impressive.
Hit the break to see the video.

Get ready for Fastlane Street Racing a high speed arcade racing game on the go. Weave through traffic in winding city routes and improve your driving on high speed race circuits. Incredible sense of speed and beautifully rendered surroundings makes Fastlane Street Racing one of the most polished racing titles available on the iPhone.

The developer lists the following features:

• 8 Punishing city routes
• 2 High speed racetracks
• 6 Fiendish challenge tracks
• 5 Game modes
• Save and review replays
• 10 Original cars (including unlockables)
• Unlockable cars, skins, and modes
• Amazing graphics and effects

The game is not yet available but will be appearing in the App Store.

Thank You

I would like to say Thank You to all our visitors AND of course the team. We are now receiving a average of 150 hits per day. This average is increasing by 5-10 hits everyday!

2.2 Speculation

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPhoneFreakz German iPhone news blog iphone-ticker.de, found out that Apple has been doing some work on side of their iTunes Store servers and expects the release of the next iPhone OS version during the next five days. iphone-ticker.de points out that Apple is changing the iTunes direct links from the well-known format (http://phobos.apple.com/…) to the new http://itunes.apple.com/… Combined with the latest beta release of iPhone OS 2.2, which for the first time revealed the new podcast features, and the problems many users had during the last 24 hours while using the iTunes store, iphone-ticker.de guesses that the final release of iPhone OS 2.2 will take place during the next five days.

It seems that Podcasts will be downloaded via the “iTunes” app.

Image via iPhone-Ticker.de

[via iPhoneFreakz]
[Original Source]

NFS First Impressions!

IGN has a pretty positive article up about the new need for speed on iphone. I can’t wait!

Quote:

Originally Posted by IGN Yesterday, I had a chance to put my thumbs on Need for Speed Undercover for the iPhone/iPod Touch. While my no means is this a final verdict, it is simply impossible to veer into this report without expressing some severe enthusiasm for the game. Not only is the game extremely fast, especially when you tap the on-screen NOS button, but the graphics outstrip anything you’ve seen on the iPhone thus far — and that include Gameloft’s superlative Asphalt 4.

Premise:

Quote:

Undercover does not deviate too far from the recent Need for Speed canon. You again dive into the underworld via the street racing phenomenon, but this time you do so as an undercover cop. You must race against smugglers and thieves to get close to the heart of a criminal enterprise, and that leads to a series of high octane events on the streets of Tri-City and the highways which connect the three metro areas.

Gameplay:

Quote:

Undercover uses the accelerometer for steering. To accelerate, you tip the device forward. However, you don’t need to tip it too far for hit the gas, something I was concerned about. Too many iPhone games ask you to physically tilt the phone away from your face. Steering left and right via tilting the phone was very responsive.

Quote:

…and I cannot wait to try out the final game when it debuts in late November alongside the console editions.

[via IGN]