atomic14

NeHe OpenGL tutorial 5 ported to ES2.0

In this blog post, I delve into the specifics of porting code for drawing 3D shapes in ES2.0. I detail how to overcome the lack of depth buffer in the default OpenGL template and describe how to add rotation to objects by saving the model view matrix. This post offers a useful walkthrough, especially for those keen to deepen their understanding of 3D rendering nuances in ES2.0.

22 September 2010

Shoot3D for the iPad/iPhone

I'm thrilled to have introduced my first 3D game on the app store. The entire process served as a real learning curve, with some elements still appearing obscure, yet adding to the intrigue. The games section of the app store is known for its fierce competition, but challenging the status quo by doing something different from the regular utility apps is quite a welcome change. I'm generally proud of how the game has turned out and look forward to its reception. You can download the game on the app store.

10 July 2010

iPad UK launch

Had a laugh this morning at the Apple store on Regent Street with an iPad owner who doesn't know what to do with his shiny new toy, and a confused cyclist who was convinced only a celebrity could draw such a crowd! Certainly a morning for the books.

28 May 2010

BBC iPlayer - updated sample code

Hey there, just a quick update to let you know I've whipped up a new demo using the RSS feeds from the iPlayer site. It locates URLs and takes advantage of the webview to play the movies out, pretty neat huh? Just a reminder, you'll need the iPhone SDK and tool chain to get this project up and running, and remember, it's a rough around the edges, so use with caution. Be sure to check out the original blog post for more insight. Just a heads up, don't expect to see this app on the iTunes store anytime soon, the...

06 May 2010

Getting BBC iPlayer working on the iPad

Just got an iPad from the US, thinking it'd be perfect for BBC iPlayer. To my dismay, the website needed flash to play anything! Weirdly, iPhones can run it, so I'm trying to trick the iPad iPlayer website into thinking my iPad is an iPhone. It involves setting a User-Agent and using some simple code to change 'embed' tags to HTML5 video tags. Works pretty fine so far, even with full screen video and device rotation. Just needs some tidying up. Although I believe BBC will eventually update their code for the iPad, we're allowed some hacks in the meantime....

06 May 2010

Getting started with Box2D

Just gave a enlightening talk on Box2D at the LiDG and have prepared a step-by-step walkthrough on creating a simple pinball game using the open sourced 2D physics engine! You'll learn the concepts of Body, Shape, Friction, etc. as well as how to build and run the Box2D engine for iPhone. By the end of the blog, you'll be equipped to create a basic working game in a couple of 100 lines of code! Don't forget to check out my slides and demos linked in the blog!

04 March 2010

Tablet+iPhones = Console+Controllers

Here's the concept: your iPhones turn into wireless controllers and your tablet is now your console, all thanks to gamekit. It's a whole new way of gaming, reminiscent of the Wii, or using your devices for interactive card games. Interesting eh?

28 January 2010

Sudoku Grab Nominated for the Most Creative Use of iPhone Hardware

Express your love for our app by casting your vote in this category using the provided link.

03 January 2010

How does it all work?

In this blog, I explain the process behind my Sudoku Grab app, a solution that uses basic image processing techniques to recognize Sudoku puzzles. This is done by locating the puzzle in an image, turning it back into a square form, segmenting it to find potential numbers, and lastly, recognizing those numbers. This involves simple thresholding techniques, blob extraction algorithm, perspective transform, and a Neural Network for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to recognize digits from the photograph. I conclude by mentioning the potential for multiple enhancements to this process.

14 August 2009

Sales stats update - 5 or 6 months on the app store

Apologies for the radio silence on sales stats for our app, but to be fair, there hasn't been much spark! After the US App Store feature, it was a sliding game down the charts, but still, we average about 10-30 copies daily. We excitedly crossed the 25,000 download mark recently. Oh, and there's a chart you can find below with more deets. A Dutch website brought a brief sales soar, but that's died down now. All told, we've clocked in 25591 paid and 8436 free downloads, the latter gaining a brief spotlight during a celebratory two-week freebie phase. Sure seems...

19 July 2009

25000 copies downloaded!

I'm thrilled to announce that Sudoku Grab has reached 25000 downloads! As a token of gratitude, the app will be available for free until the 25th June. A huge thank you to everyone who has purchased the app and for all the valuable feedback.

15 June 2009

Heading to the Apple WWDC

I'm off to San Francisco this Sunday for the Apple's WWDC event. I'm anticipating it will provide a lot of valuable insights for potential future enhancements.

05 June 2009

Sales stats update - Two months on the app store

Another month on the App Store, fellas! Even though our little app met some bumps here and there, it still managed to get quite the spotlight in Europe's 'What we're playing' section, grossing up to 200 daily sales in the UK, 300 globally. Took a hit when we dropped from the featured list, but that was expected, right? Thankfully, other countries picked up the slack! Brought in a new icon and broke into the US market, making a splash in their 'New and Noteworthy' section. Seems like being on the front page or featured list really makes a difference! Despite...

23 April 2009

Busy busy

Just landed back home after a couple US trips. It's time to roll up the sleeves and get busy now - have to update instructions for our 1.4 version, which isn't too different from 1.3 but with a few changes. Also, got to start working on 1.5. Let's do this!

16 April 2009

A couple of reviews

Our app has finally been reviewed by a couple of sites, namely 148apps and iPhone App Reviews. Unfortunately, our daily downloads in the US are still low, hovering around 10-20, and the app has moved off the front page of the app store in the UK, causing a significant drop in sales. Stay tuned for a detailed update in a couple of weeks. Appreciate all the support and readership.

09 April 2009