demolition

Fragger takes the concept of hit-game Angry Birds and adds a special-ops spin by instead having you toss grenades into structures that house enemy soldiers. Even with its similarity to the Angry Birds game mechanic, Fragger manages to offer enough variation in levels and enough of a graphical detachment from the popular game to make it both fun and addictive.

What separates Fragger from Angry Birds is the need to make highly precise shots in certain situations. Sometimes you'll need to bank grenades off of walls to drop them into a bunker, while other times the grenade will serve … Read more

One of the big iPhone news items this week revolved around an app I wrote about in the June 11 edition of iPhone apps of the week. Apparently, Taptaptap, developer of Camera+ (not currently available at the App Store) recently added a feature called "VolumeSnap" that would allow users to snap pictures using the iPhone volume controls on the side of the device. Apple pulled Camera+ from the iTunes App Store saying the app violated Apple's developer agreement terms by using one of the main iPhone controls in a "non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion."

I suppose it makes sense to keep things consistent, and of course Apple has the last say in these matters, but I have to agree with the idea that tapping the screen isn't an ideal way to snap pictures. Just about every time you take a picture with an iPhone you're holding it unsteadily in your hand and pressing the screen only moves the iPhone more, sometimes resulting in blurry shots.

Am I asking for another button on the iPhone? I wouldn't go that far, but now that the iPhone 4 has upped the ante with a 5-megapixel camera, it just might be the kind of thing Apple needs to consider. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

This week's apps include a free photography app that makes it easy to share your photos and a demolition type game that offers a unique twist on other popular games in the iTunes App Store.… Read more

We had the pleasure of sitting down in CNET's San Francisco offices on Wednesday with Finnish developers Mikael Hed and Peter Vesterbacka from Rovio, makers of hit iPhone and iPad game Angry Birds (download for iPhone/iPad).

Angry Birds has become the most successful paid iPhone app to date, selling more than 5 million copies of the 99-cent game in the past six months alone. Did it get there overnight? No, but in the world of App Store development, its ascension was brisk.

So how did it all start? Toward the end of last year, the Rovio developers said … Read more

For a friend's birthday the other night, we all went down to his rehearsal space (he's in a band) and played music, often switching instruments to see what we could come up with. Not everyone there was a musician, but with drums, guitars, basses, a keyboard, percussion instruments, and microphones, everyone found a way to get in on the jam. To add to the fun later in the night, my friend also had a cord to connect an iPod or iPhone to the PA system which meant I could try out some of my music apps. Among the … Read more

Toyota has announced that it has developed the world's first rear-seat center airbag.

In the event of a side-on collision, this new airbag will deploy from a fixed rear-seat console to prevent injury from passengers colliding with each other or the console itself. We're assuming that the inclusion of this center airbag system eliminates the rear-center seating position.

We're all for vehicles protecting their passengers in the event of a crash, but between your standard front airbags, side-curtain airbags, knee airbags, rear-curtain airbags, and now rear-center airbags, how long will it be before the vehicle just fills … Read more