In addition to VOIP, the iPhone SDK may give programmers access to the iPhone’s motion sensors, which may result in all kinds of interesting motion-activated controls.
For example, hacker Erling Ellingsen has already built three homemade iPhone applications that are controlled by tilting, rotating or shaking the iPhone.
Ellingsen’s three demo apps are a virtual Steve Jobs bobble-head that bobs its head when the phone is shaken; a maze that is navigated by tipping and turning the phone; and a virtual box of balls that roll and bounce as he rotates the phone.
In the real world, there might kinds of interesting possibilities for game developers — think handheld portable Wii.
See Ellingsen’s impressive video:
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
8 responses to “iPhone SDK: Could Motion Controls Make the iPhone a Mini Wii?”
So let me get this straight…
First, Nintendo is going to buy out Apple
Then, they’re going to merge
Apple releases the iPhone, which is going after the Nintendo DS due to the touch-screen nature of the device
Nintendo strikes back with motion sensitivity..a cheap, game oriented iPhone?
Suddenly, the SDK for the iPhone is coming…iWii is the result?
Brutal guys….just brutal. Overlapping demographics, sure, but I can’t see the iPhone as the portable wii. Unless the AppleTV starts selling games using the iPhone as the controller. NOW you have me interested….
“Unless the AppleTV starts selling games using the iPhone as the controller. NOW you have me interested….”
Genius!
Except that the controllers would cost as much or more than the counsel…
They are simply stating the possibility of Apple making a run for the portable gaming market. Sources such as The Mac Newb Tube deem it highly possible. Just think, if Apple hits their target of 10 million iPhone (plus iPod touch) users worldwide, they will be solidified at at least # 3 in handheld gaming. Strengthen by the fact that the SDK has just been announced, I think gaming is right around the corner.
The touch screen will give developer so much freedom (imagine Okami)! Then, after the base is more wide spread, I think we’ll be seeing DS ports by Christmas 2008.
lol,yh just a lil,
i would like if nintendo and apple joined together or somin,that would be kl