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Hidden Feature Turns iPhone into TV Gaming Device

appleinsider.com — With a little work and the help of an undocumented feature in Apple's iPhone Software Developers Kit, one iPhone developer was able to turn its game into a version suited for playback on big-screen TVs.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 10, 2008

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  • scotchw, on 12/10/2008, -4/+22OK, didn't we JUST see this like 4 days ago, when it was news?

    Yep
    http://digg.com/apple/Hidden_SDK_features_transfor ...
  • zakatov, on 12/10/2008, -1/+12As interesting as it is to see this stuff coming from a phone, we have to remember that the iPhone and the Touch are basically fully functional computers: CPU/GPU/Memory/Storage/IO and a full OS. One by one, everything possible with your desktop/laptop is being done with the phone/touch. That is the "hidden" power of iPhone.
  • DrLeePhD, on 12/10/2008, -0/+9"When Morrison approached senior programmer Mark Levin, he had basically one set of instructions. 'Make it work before lunch'."

    I'd probably kill my boss.
  • violentvinyl, on 12/10/2008, -1/+6"One by one, everything possible with your desktop/laptop is being done with the phone/touch, but SLOWER."

    Fixed that for you. I have an iPhone, I love it, but anything much more complicated than a basic game, LIGHT web surfing, listening to music or writing e-mail slows the thing down to a snails pace.
  • mrBitch, on 12/10/2008, -1/+5RE: " ... finding an amazing undocumented API that lets the phone communicate with a computer over USB, so we can have some real apps instead of gimmicky *****. "

    How will making data comms on the iPhone wired instead of wireless magically make "gimmicky" apps into " real apps " ?
  • CoD4, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4and real multiplayer!
  • motivatedguy, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4Welcome to last week
  • inactive, on 12/10/2008, -1/+5I can turn the Iphone into an actual phone... Pretty hard mod but it does work!
  • craziplaya21, on 12/10/2008, -3/+6can your 360 or ps3 call other people on the phone?
    can you carry them with you wherever you go in your pocket?
    can they connect to the internet while you are in your car?
    ...etc

    point is, the iPhone is not made only for gaming. gaming on tv is just one of the features among many others which justifies its price
  • s0crates82, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3seriously. Morrison's a douchebag.
  • inactive, on 12/10/2008, -2/+5How about finding an amazing undocumented API that lets the phone communicate with a computer over USB, so we can have some real apps instead of gimmicky *****.
  • hippieman, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3Totally, that guy sucks. (Oh wait, I'm him).

    You guys seem to forget what working at a game company is like. We don't even wear shoes.

    Mark says, "Hey how long should we work on this." And I was "Make it work before lunch." Mark didn't even need that long, he's my peer and drinking buddy. Way to read into what's not there.
  • awolfe91, on 12/10/2008, -6/+9Sweet! The graphics power of the Wii on my phone!.:P
  • TheCheeks, on 12/10/2008, -1/+3Well now they implemented it into an actual game. But yeah, old news. Still cool.
  • syntaxgs, on 12/10/2008, -1/+3No that was A Different Article,,,,,,,
    I rember it yesterday,,,,
  • Avaya, on 12/10/2008, -0/+2This might be old news, but I missed it the first time around and am really happy I came across it now :o)
  • mrBitch, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1RE: " ... slow framerates, tethered to a television? sign me up! "

    The issue with TV Out frame rates will not be an issue very soon :

    http://digg.com/apple/Apple_s_bionic_ARM_PowerVR_S ...
    " .. next generation graphics core, the PowerVR SGX, introduces OpenGL ES 2.0 support, along with a Universal Scalable Shader Engine that provides mobile devices with highly efficient, shader-based 3D graphics.

    SGX is not only backwards compatible with code developed for MBX, but also actually runs it with better performance and efficiency. "
  • gbhall, on 12/10/2008, -3/+4A whole gaming console, inside your controller, on your TV! That's more like it!
  • twmulloy, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1remember when i discovered this over a year ago?
  • DrLeePhD, on 12/13/2008, -0/+1damn, sorry bro!
    this _NEVER HAPPENS_ on digg!!
    the internet just doesn't translate subtlety like that so I'm glad you're not some model A-H.
  • DriversPlaza, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1Well iPod Touch And Iphone are nice for gaming just like ngage - - more of gaming news @ http://www.techlookz.com/gamers-news/
  • mrBitch, on 12/10/2008, -2/+3You're right. While on holiday in Europe a few months ago I was using my iPod Touch as a mini laptop.

    A friend had an Eee PC and was experiencing the exact same trade-offs with screen size and keyboard that I had with my iPod Touch... except the Touch is far smaller and could fit in my shirt pocket.
  • Rkstar, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1Anyone know what cable they're using to connect it to the TV? I couldn't tell from the video, and didn't see it in a quick check of the Apple Store.
  • ricksite, on 12/10/2008, -1/+2The iPhone can already output 480p video to a TV. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to output the screen 100% of the time (even during games, navigation, etc...).
  • RedS0x, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1Didn't we JUST see this like 3 minutes ago?

    Yep
    http://digg.com/apple/Hidden_Feature_Turns_iPhone_ ...
  • MRintheKeys, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1Shhh.....Don't stop him now...he's flowing...
  • blipblipbeep, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1Well if that's it? Its not really a secret then, lol.
  • missingnoh4x, on 12/10/2008, -0/+1If it's an undocumented feature in the API you can bet your ass Apple won't let it be published in the app store.
  • Troyjinman, on 12/10/2008, -2/+2woah woah woah, grab a beer and calm the F**k down
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  • Meocross, on 12/10/2008, -3/+2WiPod = in stores now..
  • Troyjinman, on 12/10/2008, -7/+5With the amount it costs to get a iPhone...and play it on your tv... why not just get an xbox 360 or a ps3?
    Dugged down for: retarded
    Gouble dugged down for: dupe
  • breakaway, on 12/10/2008, -3/+1***** you're funny!
  • Four20, on 12/10/2008, -6/+2old news. . .ars broke this a week ago
  • lolwutpear, on 12/10/2008, -6/+1simplistic, gimmicky games, slow framerates, tethered to a television? sign me up!
  • ace7196, on 12/10/2008, -7/+2Wow...looks like some submitters just aren't on digg enough to see the same article just a few days earlier...

    C'mon guys, keep up!
  • tigerbot779, on 12/10/2008, -7/+2its like a cool wii controller with a touch screen but with a wire attached.

    meh, you win some you lose some

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