Hermann
13.09.2008, 09:49
As you SHOULD have been able to guess from my last email, X-Plane is
now here for the iPhone, and it is FUN!
The iPhone is not QUITE as powerful as a Quad-Core desktop ;-) , so I
had to really scale it down to a perfect little 'slice' of X-Plane.
You can choose from the Cirrus Jet, Columbia-400, Cessna 182, and
Piaggo Avanti, with flight physics that are about 95% as accurate as X-
Plane for desktop, so the flight modeling is really just amazing for a
little device of this size.. really just stunning.
You can drag the throttle up on the left, the flaps on the right, gear
and brakes on the bottom, and just tap the screen anywhere around the
center to bring up the menus. (One reviewer write that the app needs
to have settings... umm.. it DOES... he just did not tap in the center
of the screen to SEE them!)
Tilt the phone left, right, up and down for yoke control!
How such a tiny little device as this could run a sim like X-Plane, I
can hardly imagine, but it does, and running this sim is like having a
***** little window into an alternate universe where a little mini
Cirrus Jet is zooming through the mountains of the Innsbruck, Austria,
as you tilt the little frame that shows you a windows into this little
virtual world.
Anyway, if you do not have an iPhone, you should get one. I can
honestly say that I am about 10% happier now that I have one... yup,
it's true! The interface, music (it grabs music from my iTunes) google-
map moving maps (with your position shown on the map, and a search
function that lets you type in anything, like 'sushi', and have little
red pins drop down on the map for every sushi joint in the area) are
just stunning.
You can be anywhere, any time, and always have your music in a
STUNNINGLY excellent sound system (i can not IMAGINE how they made the
sound quality so good), see where you on a map, type in any keyword
you want and have little pins drop down to every spot on that map to
mark whatever you are looking for, and oh yes.. it is a perfectly fine
(and best-looking ever) phone as well.
With the free card games on it, you can always shoot down a hand of
Solitaire if you are stuck in line or waiting for 10 or 30 minutes
anywhere, and now you can download and fly a cool little mini X-Plane
on it as well.. tilting the phone to guide your Cirrus Jet across the
sky.
Well, these are some amazing times... a device half the size of half a
deck of cards can manage a decent bit of your navigation,
communication, and entertainment wherever you go .. and has the
computing power to give some decent alternate worlds to play in, and
do it all with an interface that is just plain FUN to use. (and crazy-
easy).
You wanna find it?
Launch iTunes on your computer (mac or windows.. it makes no
difference).
Go to iTunes STORE.
Hit the HOME button at top of your screen (a little picture of a house).
Hit the APP Store button in the upper left.
Go to the GAMES category, SIMULATION sub-category.
Poke around until you find X-Plane.
Buy it ($9.99) and write a good review if you like it.
>From a physics and graphics standpoint, I don't think anything else
on the iPhone comes close.. not even close.
Oh well, have at it! And tell everyone you know!
austin
now here for the iPhone, and it is FUN!
The iPhone is not QUITE as powerful as a Quad-Core desktop ;-) , so I
had to really scale it down to a perfect little 'slice' of X-Plane.
You can choose from the Cirrus Jet, Columbia-400, Cessna 182, and
Piaggo Avanti, with flight physics that are about 95% as accurate as X-
Plane for desktop, so the flight modeling is really just amazing for a
little device of this size.. really just stunning.
You can drag the throttle up on the left, the flaps on the right, gear
and brakes on the bottom, and just tap the screen anywhere around the
center to bring up the menus. (One reviewer write that the app needs
to have settings... umm.. it DOES... he just did not tap in the center
of the screen to SEE them!)
Tilt the phone left, right, up and down for yoke control!
How such a tiny little device as this could run a sim like X-Plane, I
can hardly imagine, but it does, and running this sim is like having a
***** little window into an alternate universe where a little mini
Cirrus Jet is zooming through the mountains of the Innsbruck, Austria,
as you tilt the little frame that shows you a windows into this little
virtual world.
Anyway, if you do not have an iPhone, you should get one. I can
honestly say that I am about 10% happier now that I have one... yup,
it's true! The interface, music (it grabs music from my iTunes) google-
map moving maps (with your position shown on the map, and a search
function that lets you type in anything, like 'sushi', and have little
red pins drop down on the map for every sushi joint in the area) are
just stunning.
You can be anywhere, any time, and always have your music in a
STUNNINGLY excellent sound system (i can not IMAGINE how they made the
sound quality so good), see where you on a map, type in any keyword
you want and have little pins drop down to every spot on that map to
mark whatever you are looking for, and oh yes.. it is a perfectly fine
(and best-looking ever) phone as well.
With the free card games on it, you can always shoot down a hand of
Solitaire if you are stuck in line or waiting for 10 or 30 minutes
anywhere, and now you can download and fly a cool little mini X-Plane
on it as well.. tilting the phone to guide your Cirrus Jet across the
sky.
Well, these are some amazing times... a device half the size of half a
deck of cards can manage a decent bit of your navigation,
communication, and entertainment wherever you go .. and has the
computing power to give some decent alternate worlds to play in, and
do it all with an interface that is just plain FUN to use. (and crazy-
easy).
You wanna find it?
Launch iTunes on your computer (mac or windows.. it makes no
difference).
Go to iTunes STORE.
Hit the HOME button at top of your screen (a little picture of a house).
Hit the APP Store button in the upper left.
Go to the GAMES category, SIMULATION sub-category.
Poke around until you find X-Plane.
Buy it ($9.99) and write a good review if you like it.
>From a physics and graphics standpoint, I don't think anything else
on the iPhone comes close.. not even close.
Oh well, have at it! And tell everyone you know!
austin