Skip to main content

iCade Mobile adds physical gaming controls to your iPhone


The Ion Audio iCade Mobile will retail for $79.99 when it comes out in May (click to enlarge).


Tired of playing games with virtual buttons on your iPhone? Well, a few companies, including Ion Audio, are making Bluetooth game controllers that work with the iPhone and Android smartphones.

We got a chance to play around with the Ion iCade Mobile ($79.99) and found that it worked well enough (yes, those are shoulder buttons on top). That said, Steve Jobs would probably cringe at its design. The shiny black plastic is a fingerprint magnet and the whole contraption isn't terribly elegant. True, we were using an early version of the device, so we may see some refinements before launch in May.

When it does ship this spring, iCade Mobile is supposed to work with around 100 games (no, not all games will be compatible with it--far from it). It's worth noting that the controller does allow you to turn your device vertically or horizontally, which is good.

At its booth here, Ion was also showing off the iCade Core ($99.99), a less fancy version of its iCade gaming cabinet for the iPad, and had a mock-up on hand of the iCade Jr. ($69.99), a shrunken-down version of the iCade that works with the iPhone.

The iCade open in portrait mode



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nokia Asha 200 ( Nokia Asha 200 )

Nokia Asha 200 is affordable QWERTY Dual Sim (GSM+GSM) Mobile Phone and offers faster emailing, chatting @ affordable price in India. Nokia 200 Dual Sim Mobile Features: Easily Swap Sim card without switching off the phone Short cut key for SIM card management FM Recording Social networking, email, IM support 2 Megapixel Camera Available in Eight Colors Nokia Asha 200 QWERTY Dual Sim Phone Technical Specifications: Dual GSM Sim Card 900/1800 MHz GPRS/EDGE 2.4” inch QVGA Display screen 10 MB free memory + up to 32GB Memory Card 2MP Camera with 4X Digital Zoom FM recording and Song Capture Bluetooth Powerful Loud Speaker (106 phon) Nokia BL-5J (1430 mAh) Battery Talk time up to 420 Minutes Standby time up to 37 days Dimensions: 115.4 x 61.1 x 14.0 mm Weight: 105 gm Nokia Asha 200 Price in India:  < Rs. 5,000/- INR Nokia 200 Box Includes: Phone, Nokia Charger, Nokia Battery BL-5J and Nokia Stereo Headset WH-102

The joy of Microsoft's 'avoid ghetto' GPS patent

Indeed, not so long ago, one lady  sued Google  because the directions its map offered led her (she believed) to be struck by a  car . Now Microsoft has been  granted a patent  that is designed to make its maps more pedestrian-friendly. Somehow, this patent has immediately been dubbed the  "avoid ghetto" feature . Someone seems to have already attempted a ghetto-related mapping exercise, in Ohio. (Credit:  CC JimBobThe Boss/Flickr ) The gist of it seems to be that Microsoft's GPS--which will  reportedly be inserted  into Windows Phones in the future--will use input from more varied and up-to-date sources in order to create suggested routes. Among these sources are crime statistics. Which has led  some to the thought  that this will somehow be an insult to poor neighborhoods. What is unclear, at least from my reading of the patent--which isn't written by anything resembling a human hand or mind--is what kind of crime statistics the...

Microsoft says 'see ya' to CES (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft has sung its  CES  swan song. The company announced plans last month  to walk away from the Consumer Electronics Show  after a nearly two-decade involvement with the confab and the organization behind it. That made tonight's keynote address from Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer the beginning of the end. Microsoft  didn't make any major announcements  (other than the fact that Kinect is  coming to Windows on February 1 ). But then, the company has said the timing of the annual confab doesn't generally align with its product news milestones, and that's the key reason it's bailing on the show. Microsoft talked up Windows Phone (its mobile phone operating system that's been getting some praise from the tech press), gave a look at some of the upcoming trim ultrabook computers running  Windows 7 , demoed some previously disclosed features of Windows 8 (which should debut toward the end of 2012), and touted its tile-based Me...