From China, the knockoff republic of the world, there is a new adapter case out for the iPod touch. The Apple Peel 520 promise to turn your touch into an iPhone. That is a bit of a stretch, but at least it’s a fully working phone with this thing on it’s back. Nothing for the new touch as of yet though.

Want to take your knockoff purchases even further then there seems to be a Macbook Air, iPad and iPhone wannabe out there too. Just don’t expect the same quality and functionality one has come to know from Apples products.

This week there was two small things that had me intrigued. I found out that there has been a new Warioware game out for the Nintendo DS for a while and that this time around Nintendo have incorporated a do it yourself kit for making your own mini games, hence the name Warioware D.I.Y. You might think that’s the first thing in it self, but no it isn’t. It’s actually a very small built in feature in the games drawing tool that caught my ear. In addition to visual changes from section to section of the tool, you also get audio cues, as in change to the music, for better feedback. This lead me to think there must be some unexplored areas here.

With that in mind I thought about the sound of shapes, or the Bouba/kiki effect, something James Geary brought up in his TED talk ‘metaphorically speaking‘, and how parts of projects I have worked on might sound. We have all clicked around websites and applications that give feedback in the form of generic beeps. But very little comes to mind where you take that generic beep to something that hint to what lays ahead.

The second thing that intrigued me is the crafting tool in the massively popular Minecraft. In short it’s a sandbox game which allows players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. The game is put together by just one guy, Markus Persson, aka “Notch“, and it has over 100 000 preorders so far.

To see the game in action, and most importantly the crafting tool, take a look at this video. I really like how you combine materials with the ingenious way one lay them out to form the shape of the object you aim to craft. In a way Notch has taken the concept that chemical bonds between atoms form molecules and combined it with the simplest identifiable shapes. Do I get inspired and get ideas to were this could be applicable in other areas? Most certainly!

If they do then that can mean only one thing: Duke Nukem Forever is done!

Have no idea what I’m talking about? The gist of it is that 3D Realms had the sequel to the 1996 game, Duke Nukem 3D, in production for 12 years(!) before it got canceled last year. Then by rumor it was allegedly taken on by Gearbox Software, and now with a ton of rumors on top of that it’s being revealed today (10 AM PDT) by 2K Games at PAX! That is 07 PM CET.

Guess I might get to the pub an hour or two later then usual this Friday. Watch the live stream of the event here. But don’t blame me if it turns out to be all rumors once again. It can’t be, it has to be for real this time, surely? Cheers!

Update: Hail to the king baby!

Two weeks ago id Software’s coding guru John Carmack demonstrated the id Tech 5 engine running on the iPhone. Impressive as it may be, this display of power would have been much more interesting were it not for the announcement, in the same week, that id Tech 5 will not be licensed out to third party developers and publishers.

A surprise move when you see the benefits companies like Epic Games reap from doing the opposite and more. And now Epic has gone even further and released a Unreal Engine 3 tech demo for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. As a huge fan of their free Unreal Development Kit this could be an early Xmas.

Epic Games Tech Demo available from the iTunes store.

For awhile I have been hoping for an option between the smart phones and the larger pads. The device should of course have a brilliant pressure sensitive display, a great graphics application available and also have the option to use a stylus. And now it seams Samsung has gone and created something half way there.

The first previews are appearing as the Samsung Galaxy Tab became available to the hands of journalists at this years IFA Berlin. And there are also rumors of a Bluetooth pressure sensitive stylus, so this one might go all the way!

But until we know all the bells and whistles, I’ll keep doodling on my Nintendo DS with help from the excellent homebrew Colors! application.

..or the “best” use of an iPhone app ever? Try not to laugh, it’s serious business after all.

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