8 OpenSocial apps worth trying out
MiniTweetMiniTweet is a simple OpenSocial app.The tool adds a small Twitter update box to your MySpace profile.You can pick a title and input your user name.MiniTweet then displays all your recent Twitter updates on your profile.At any time, you can view your Twitter page by clicking on your MiniTweet title.You can't update your status in the app, but it's still worth checking out.MiniTweet displays your Twitter updates.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETMusic iLikeMusic iLike is available for MySpace, Orkut, and Hi5 users.It's also available as a Facebook application.After you install it on your profile, it lets you search for music videos or songs.Once you find what you're searching for, you can add it to your profile.All those songs can be played by visitors to your profile page.Unfortunately, only a portion of the song will play at any given time.If you want to listen to the whole song, you'll need to buy it from iTunes or Amazon.com by clicking the appropriate link in the app.Music iLike helps you find songs.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETOpenSocial Dev AppThe OpenSocial Dev App is a must-have for anyone who wants to start developing applications for the platform.It can be installed on Hi5, Ning, MySpace, or Orkut.It's designed specifically for OpenSocial sites.Once installed, you can create a full OpenSocial app by coding JavaScript.The tool also lets you preview your app to see how it's coming along.Once complete, you can export it as an XML file.It's a handy tool to have for any OpenSocial user.OpenSocial Dev App helps you create your own app.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETPollDaddyPollDaddy is one of my favorite online polling apps.In a matter of seconds, you can create a poll or survey, and embed it into your blog.I do it almost daily, and it works beautifully.The same is true for its OpenSocial app, which is available to MySpace, Ning, Hi5, and Orkut users.You can create a poll in the app and embed it into your site.You can also view statistics on your poll to see how many people have responded. PollDaddy's poll-creation app is fantastic.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETThe Scramble GameThe Scramble Game can be played on Hi5 or Ning.It's also available on Facebook.Once you learn how to play (it will take a while), I think that you'll like what you find.You simply grab letters ("tiles") that are being displayed before you.The more tiles you have, the greater the chance you can form words.You can play against bots or players on the social networks, and unlike with the classic game Scrabble, there is no board on which to put Scramble words. At any rate, the game is fun. The Scramble Game takes some getting used to.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETStunt PilotStunt Pilot is an extremely addictive game.It's available to Ning and Orkut users.A Facebook app version is also available.The game is simple--control a stunt pilot as he or she flies through rings to earn points.As you earn more points, you'll join the leaderboard, which is made up of players on the aforementioned social networks. As with Scramble, Stunt Pilot is fun.Stunt Pilot is really fun.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETYouTube Top FavoritesYouTube Top Favorites adds all the top videos from YouTube to your MySpace apps.Unfortunately, the app doesn't let you search for YouTube videos.Instead, you'll find a listing of videos under such categories as top rated or top viewed.I would have liked to have searched the site with the app.It was a conspicuous omission.I should also note that the app interface is clunky, with a series of links and a video to the right.You won't have trouble finding videos, but it could really use a designer's touch.YouTube Top Favorites won't let you search, but you'll find good videos.Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNETMy top 31. PollDaddy: PollDaddy is just as good on social networks as it is on its own site.2. Stunt Pilot: Fun, fun, fun.3. OpenSocial Dev App: What's better than creating your own app in an app?
How to create a slideshow in iPhoto
How to create a slideshow in iPhoto
Sure, you can create an album in iPhoto and flip through the photos, showing those seated next to you in front of your Mac the highlights from your vacation or the latest snaps of the grandkids. A special occasion--wedding, anniversary, graduation, milestone birthday--however, may require extra treatment. To add music, engaging transitions, and panning-and-zooming Ken Burns effects to your photo presentation, try out iPhoto's slideshow feature. Creating a slideshow is quick and easy in iPhoto '11. I'll show you how after the jump.To create a slideshow, highlight a group of photos (using the Shift key if they are in consecutive order or the Command key if they are not) and click the Create button in the toolbar in the lower-right corner of iPhoto and select Slideshow. The photos will get dumped into a slideshow, complete with a title page. You can type in a title, and you can also name the slideshow in iPhoto's source list in the left-hand column.Create > Slideshow gets you started.Matt Elliott/CNETTo add more photos to the slideshow, highlight the photos you'd like to include, click the Add To button in the toolbar, select Slideshow, and from there you'll be able to add the photo or photos to any of the slideshows you've created. To remove a photo from a slideshow, open the slideshow and highlight the photo from the strip of thumbnails at the top of the page and hit the Delete key. From that strip of thumbnails, you can also drag photos around to change the order.iPhoto provides 12 themes for your slideshow, which you can access from the Themes button in the toolbar. To its left is a Text Slide button that lets you add a caption to a slide, and to its right is a Music button that lets you add a song or songs to the slideshow. iPhoto provides 14 selections, or you can choose a song from iTunes or GarageBand. Before you select a song, be sure you check the Play music during slideshow box. To play more than one song, check the Custom Playlist for Slideshow box and drag songs into the area below it.iPhoto features 12 slideshow themes.Matt Elliott/CNETUsing the Settings button, you can choose to use photo titles, description, Places, or dates as captions. Other settings let you add a transition to the entire slideshow or just to specific photos. You can set the duration for how long all the slides or specific slides will stay on the screen.Two of the 12 themes--Classic and Ken Burns--let you add the Ken Burns effect. The panning-and-zooming effect gets applied to all the slides, but you can turn it off for specific slides. To do so, go to Settings, click on the This Slide tab, and remove the check next to Ken Burns at the bottom. You can also control how the Ken Burns effect will pan and zoom across an image. Make sure the Ken Burns box is checked and that the little slider next to it is on the Start side. Using the zoom slider at the bottom of iPhoto, you can choose where to start the zoom. And then you can drag the photo to frame it for its starting point. Then move the little slider to End and adjust the zoom and drag the photo to where you'd like the panning to end. This is an effective tool for zooming in and panning across a group photos; instead of radomly zooming in and ending on someone's shoulder, for example, you can have it zoom in and pan across your smiling faces.In settings, you can set the duration of each slide and fine tune the panning and zooming of Ken Burns effect.Matt Elliott/CNETHit the Preview button at the bottom of iPhoto to see how the current slide you're working on looks (plus those that follow it). And to view your completed slideshow from start to finish, hit the Play button.
Sure, you can create an album in iPhoto and flip through the photos, showing those seated next to you in front of your Mac the highlights from your vacation or the latest snaps of the grandkids. A special occasion--wedding, anniversary, graduation, milestone birthday--however, may require extra treatment. To add music, engaging transitions, and panning-and-zooming Ken Burns effects to your photo presentation, try out iPhoto's slideshow feature. Creating a slideshow is quick and easy in iPhoto '11. I'll show you how after the jump.To create a slideshow, highlight a group of photos (using the Shift key if they are in consecutive order or the Command key if they are not) and click the Create button in the toolbar in the lower-right corner of iPhoto and select Slideshow. The photos will get dumped into a slideshow, complete with a title page. You can type in a title, and you can also name the slideshow in iPhoto's source list in the left-hand column.Create > Slideshow gets you started.Matt Elliott/CNETTo add more photos to the slideshow, highlight the photos you'd like to include, click the Add To button in the toolbar, select Slideshow, and from there you'll be able to add the photo or photos to any of the slideshows you've created. To remove a photo from a slideshow, open the slideshow and highlight the photo from the strip of thumbnails at the top of the page and hit the Delete key. From that strip of thumbnails, you can also drag photos around to change the order.iPhoto provides 12 themes for your slideshow, which you can access from the Themes button in the toolbar. To its left is a Text Slide button that lets you add a caption to a slide, and to its right is a Music button that lets you add a song or songs to the slideshow. iPhoto provides 14 selections, or you can choose a song from iTunes or GarageBand. Before you select a song, be sure you check the Play music during slideshow box. To play more than one song, check the Custom Playlist for Slideshow box and drag songs into the area below it.iPhoto features 12 slideshow themes.Matt Elliott/CNETUsing the Settings button, you can choose to use photo titles, description, Places, or dates as captions. Other settings let you add a transition to the entire slideshow or just to specific photos. You can set the duration for how long all the slides or specific slides will stay on the screen.Two of the 12 themes--Classic and Ken Burns--let you add the Ken Burns effect. The panning-and-zooming effect gets applied to all the slides, but you can turn it off for specific slides. To do so, go to Settings, click on the This Slide tab, and remove the check next to Ken Burns at the bottom. You can also control how the Ken Burns effect will pan and zoom across an image. Make sure the Ken Burns box is checked and that the little slider next to it is on the Start side. Using the zoom slider at the bottom of iPhoto, you can choose where to start the zoom. And then you can drag the photo to frame it for its starting point. Then move the little slider to End and adjust the zoom and drag the photo to where you'd like the panning to end. This is an effective tool for zooming in and panning across a group photos; instead of radomly zooming in and ending on someone's shoulder, for example, you can have it zoom in and pan across your smiling faces.In settings, you can set the duration of each slide and fine tune the panning and zooming of Ken Burns effect.Matt Elliott/CNETHit the Preview button at the bottom of iPhoto to see how the current slide you're working on looks (plus those that follow it). And to view your completed slideshow from start to finish, hit the Play button.
49 iPhone games that would rock with a controller
49 iPhone games that would rock with a controller
Apple's opening up iOS 7 like nothing before it, allowing and even encouraging the use of game controller hardware that will finally bring physical buttons to iPhones, iPods, and iPads.This has been done before, of course, but not with Apple backing those efforts. Companies like Ion Audio and its iCade have brought hardware add-ons, though they required developers to tweak their games in order make those things work. This new option from Apple also requires that, but aims for a standardized set of controls that developers can plug into their software, and that come baked into Apple's iOS and OS X software development kits. We've rounded up a list of 49 games for the iPhone and iPod Touch that we think would play better with physical controls. Some already have support for the iCade, and other such solutions. Many are top sellers, and plenty of fun to play with touch controls. We've also broken them down by genre, from sandbox games all the way to endless runners. CNET's Scott Stein helped curate this list.Sandbox/Action gamesGrand Theft Auto series - $4.99 (iTunes, GameSpot)So many onscreen buttons, arrgh!RockstarThe 3D iterations of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series was built for PlayStation controllers. In bringing it to iOS devices, Rockstar attempted to put the controls onscreen. The results are OK for early missions, but become frustrating on the more complex ones, making physical controls a welcome addition. Gangstar series - $6.99 (iTunes, GameSpot)Gangstar VegasGameloftGangstar Vegas, the latest in Gameloft's GTA-inspired series, is full of vehicles, fighting, and space. At nine times the size of previous Gangstar titles, this game is absolutely enormous, making physical controls useful just for getting around. Max Payne series - $2.99 (iTunes, GameSpot) GameSpotOK, another Rockstar game -- sorry about that. But Max Payne, like GTA, is heavy on the onscreen controls. Rockstar's rejiggered things a bit with nice big buttons. But the fact remains that Max Payne requires a ton of shooting with life or death situations where getting your fingers out of the way could be very useful.Minecraft Pocket Edition - $6.99 (iTunes, GameSpot)Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNETThe pocket-size version of indie darling Mojang's Minecraft is a certified hit, but the controls can be tedious. There's no doubting that crafting and selecting items is much better with a touch screen, but when it comes to actually making your way around the terrain, and building things, physical controls would be quite nice. Case in point: the mobile version of the software first launched on Sony's Xperia Playbefore heading to other platforms. Next: Platformers1 of 9Prev123Next
Apple's opening up iOS 7 like nothing before it, allowing and even encouraging the use of game controller hardware that will finally bring physical buttons to iPhones, iPods, and iPads.This has been done before, of course, but not with Apple backing those efforts. Companies like Ion Audio and its iCade have brought hardware add-ons, though they required developers to tweak their games in order make those things work. This new option from Apple also requires that, but aims for a standardized set of controls that developers can plug into their software, and that come baked into Apple's iOS and OS X software development kits. We've rounded up a list of 49 games for the iPhone and iPod Touch that we think would play better with physical controls. Some already have support for the iCade, and other such solutions. Many are top sellers, and plenty of fun to play with touch controls. We've also broken them down by genre, from sandbox games all the way to endless runners. CNET's Scott Stein helped curate this list.Sandbox/Action gamesGrand Theft Auto series - $4.99 (iTunes, GameSpot)So many onscreen buttons, arrgh!RockstarThe 3D iterations of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series was built for PlayStation controllers. In bringing it to iOS devices, Rockstar attempted to put the controls onscreen. The results are OK for early missions, but become frustrating on the more complex ones, making physical controls a welcome addition. Gangstar series - $6.99 (iTunes, GameSpot)Gangstar VegasGameloftGangstar Vegas, the latest in Gameloft's GTA-inspired series, is full of vehicles, fighting, and space. At nine times the size of previous Gangstar titles, this game is absolutely enormous, making physical controls useful just for getting around. Max Payne series - $2.99 (iTunes, GameSpot) GameSpotOK, another Rockstar game -- sorry about that. But Max Payne, like GTA, is heavy on the onscreen controls. Rockstar's rejiggered things a bit with nice big buttons. But the fact remains that Max Payne requires a ton of shooting with life or death situations where getting your fingers out of the way could be very useful.Minecraft Pocket Edition - $6.99 (iTunes, GameSpot)Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNETThe pocket-size version of indie darling Mojang's Minecraft is a certified hit, but the controls can be tedious. There's no doubting that crafting and selecting items is much better with a touch screen, but when it comes to actually making your way around the terrain, and building things, physical controls would be quite nice. Case in point: the mobile version of the software first launched on Sony's Xperia Playbefore heading to other platforms. Next: Platformers1 of 9Prev123Next
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