Splooosh!

Yep, after all the shouting, the London 2012 Olympic Games are almost upon us. The thought will have some running for the hills, others frothing with excitement, and it is the latter that app developers are hoping to cater to with a swarm of applications, practical, whimsical and playable.

Today’s Pocket-lint App of the Day is from the playable gaming camp, but features no less than Team GB poster boy and the youngest person to have represented his country at an Olympics since 1960. It is, of course…

Tom Daley Dive 2012

Format

iPad (version tested), iPhone, iPod touch

Price

Free (+69p in-app purchase to unlock more dives)

Where

iTunes

There’s one thing you can absolutely guarantee every two years, summer and winter alternating, and that is that there will be a host of videogames that feature some form of Olympics-themed sporting events. Ever since Track and Field back in 1983, there have been button mashers and joystick wagglers that share the same gameplay DNA.

However, while Tom Daley Dive 2012 shares some of the play mechanics of such titles, it delves far deeper into the teenager’s own sport, diving, than any before it.

The game has been developed by the London-based Chelsea Apps Factory which has previously focused on enterprise applications, so comes at it from a unique angle. Its experience outside of the games industry is certainly apparent in this particular app’s presentation, and there’s plenty of content and features to explore.

Core gameplay is a gesture-controlled diving simulation, where strokes of the finger equate segments of a dive, successful or otherwise, but splashing down into the water isn’t the only goal. To begin with, most of the individual dives in the game are locked, with well-received and executed ones needed to make others available.

There’s a tutorial to help you learn the basics, and each dive can be viewed beforehand with the virtual Tom showing you the perfect positioning and timings needed. A multitude of camera angles are on offer too, so if the timing is hard to get from one viewpoint, you can always switch to another to see if that helps.

The practice/qualification levels allow you to take on individual dives in order to unlock others. And, when you’ve opened up enough of them you get the chance to compete in championship mode too, with new locations to compete in: Beijing, Barcelona and London.

Photos of Tom Daley can also be unlocked through completing different achievements, and the whole app?links up to Game Center for you to log your scores.

Tom Daley Dive 2012 is free to download, and is a universal app, so runs on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Not all the dives are available in the free version, however, and to access them all, you’ll have to pay 69p as an in-app purchase (which pops up when you try to perform a paywalled dive). This is extremely cheap though, and at least by that point you’ll know whether you liked the game or not.

We certainly do.

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Apps iPad apps iPhone apps iPod Touch apps App of the day

APP OF THE DAY: Tom Daley Dive 2012 review (iPad / iPhone / iPod touch) originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 18:00:00 +0100

Epic prize courtesy of Sony

Win tickets to Ibiza Rocks to see Maverick Sabre and Labrinth live!

Courtesy of our friends over at Sony we have a great competition up for grabs. After a wet start to the summer we’ve got a great way to turn it into a scorcher – you and a friend could win a trip to Ibiza to enjoy the sea, sand and sounds of Maverick Sabre and Labrinth at Ibiza Rocks.

To celebrate the launch of the new Sony MDR-V55 headphones?- which landed our much lauded “Hot Product” award – Sony has teamed up with Ibiza Rocks to give music fans the opportunity to bask in the sun of the party island and enjoy the best music that Ibiza has to offer.

The prize includes:
– A pair of the new Sony MDR-V55 headphones
– Flights and accommodation at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel for the winner and a guest (fly out on Wednesday 13 June from London and return on Saturday 16 June)
– Hotel transfers in Ibiza
– A pair of tickets to Ibiza Rocks on Wednesday 13 June (featuring Maverick Sabre and Labrinth)
– Entry into Ibiza Rocks Official Afterparty at Es Paradis on Wednesday 13 June
– A pair of tickets to Ibiza Kicks on Friday 15 June (screening of the England v Sweden Euro 2012 match) followed by a DJ set from Kissy Sell Out

To be in with a chance of winning:
All you have to do is follow both @Pocketlint and @SonyUK on Twitter and retweet any Pocket-lint story of your choice. Be sure to include the hashtag #PLSonyIbizaRocks otherwise you’ll slip through the radar.

But be quick! The competition will close at 5pm, 25 May, after which time we will draw the winner and inform him or her via Twitter.

Please ensure that you read Pocket-lint’s terms and conditions, and we must point out that this competition in open only to entrants aged 18 and over, that hold a UK or Irish passport, and can commit to the outlined travel dates.

You’ll also need to get yourself to and from the airport on the London side and take your own spending money. We also advise taking out travel insurance as Pocket-Lint and Sony UK are not liable for your wellbeing during the trip.

Best of luck music fans!

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Sony Sony MDR-V55 Competitions Headphones

WIN: Tickets to Ibiza Rocks to see Maverick Sabre and Labrinth live originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 16:39:00 +0100

About time and all

Canon has been rather tardy with the release of its 2012 mid-level DSLR, the EOS 650D (Rebel T4i in the US and other regions). Its predecessors, the Canon EOS 600D and EOS 550D, were released in March 2011 and April 2010 respectively, but this year’s spring has passed and there’s still no sign of the new model.

It is believed, however, that Canon-ites won’t need to wait much longer: sources claim its launch will be next month. As dedicated website Canon Rumours states: “An announcement is slated for June.”

The same site has also heard some leaked specifications for the 650D, including the adoption of an 18-megapixel CMOS sensor that may or may not be the same as in last year’s 600D. Also listed is a 9-point AF (again, the same as found on the 600D) and the very welcome continuous auto focus in live view and video recording modes.

Perhaps the most tantalising rumour is that the EOS 650D will come with a touchscreen LCD screen. After the superbly large one on the 550D and swivel version on the 600D, this comes as the next evolutionary step.

That’s about all that’s come out for now, but if the June announcement is correct, Pocket-lint fully expects the speculation to ramp up in volume over the next couple of weeks.

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Canon Cameras DSLRs Canon EOS 650D

Canon EOS 650D coming in June – specs leaked originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 15:29:00 +0100

Tom Daley Dive 2012

Team GB diver and Olympic medal hopeful Tom Daley stars in Tom Daley Dive 2012, his own iPad, iPhone and iPod touch game, released today. The app, which is free to download, allows you to use gesture movements in order to perform Olympic-standard dives from a variety of locations.

Several of the dives are available in the free version of the application, while others can be unlocked through a one-off in-app purchase of 69p.

Pocket-lint has been told that 17-year-old diver Daley was involved in the game’s approval process throughout its development. London software company Chelsea Apps Factory worked closely with the teenager, and have highlighted the fact that he has a staggering one million Twitter followers in China alone as good cause to get a dedicated title out there.

There are plenty of features in Tom Daley Dive, including Game Center-based leaderboards, Practice and Championship modes, an unlockable photo gallery,?achievements, and a chance to view the virtual Daley perform each dive perfectly before you attempt it. There are also several camera angles to play in, including one from above.

“Apps are one of the best things about having a phone, and I jumped at the chance to create my own,” said the Olympian.

“There are no good diving games out there and I love how this game has turned out: it looks great and feels very realistic – although I’m a bit nervous my own score won’t make the online leader-board!? If the game helps raise awareness of diving and gets people excited about the Olympics this year, I’ll be really pleased.”

You can download the universal Tom Daley Dive 2012 from iTunes for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch now.

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Apps iPad apps iPhone apps iPod Touch apps Tome Daley Dive 2012 London 2012

Olympic diving hope Tom Daley gets own iOS game originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 14:15:00 +0100

Showing App-titude

It’s emerged that Microsoft has applied for a patent on a service that enables applications from rival platforms such as Android and iOS to be migrated to Windows Phone.

The service would at first suggest similar Microsoft endorsed applications to the ones Android and iPhone users have on their phone. If there are none – let’s be honest, the current selection is pretty barren – then similar third-party applications will be suggested.

However, should neither prove fruitful, the migration service would then aim to transfer apps from rival operating systems to a Windows Phone, meaning consumers who purchased a Windows Phone for the first time wouldn’t lose their apps.

As great as this is in theory, a number of questions about the perspective service remain.

Firs, the technology would surely rely on Android, Apple and any other OS platform for that matter agreeing to the migration, something neither currently allows. Second, would the consumer be expected to pay for the apps a second time around?

The fact the patency was applied for in November 2010 suggests these are just some of the hurdles Microsoft is trying to overcome, but it’s an interesting take on how Microsoft is trying to combat the perceived notion that it doesn’t have enough apps available on its Windows Phone platform.

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Apps Microsoft Windows Phone Android iOS

Want to transfer Android apps to a Windows Phone? Microsoft would like to help originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 13:49:00 +0100