Photo shows prototype Logitech 'Made for iPhone' gaming controller
A new photo shows a prototype version of a Lightning-enabled iPhone 5 gaming controller from accessory maker Logitech.
The pictured accessory is an early build of an official "Made for iPhone" accessory, according to Logitech. The picture gives a first glimpse at what officially sanctioned iPhone gaming controllers will look like.
On the left side, the controller features a circular D-pad for directional control. On the right is the Lightning connector and a space that will direct sound from the iPhone 5 forward, along with five buttons.
Not shown in the picture are thumbsticks or trigger buttons, two features that may be included in other officially sanctioned "Made for iPhone" controllers. Apple detailed the parameters of such accessories last week at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
Apple showed off to developers two different types of controllers that it will allow to become officially approved accessories. In addition to an "form-fitting extended gamepad" style, like the pictured Logitech prototype, Apple will also allow a "standalone extended gamepad" that will connect to iOS devices wirelessly without a need to physically attach to the device.
The form-fitting design will allow users to interact with the physical buttons as well as the iOS device's multi-touch display. The standalone models will feature player indicator lights, suggesting multiplayer implementation.
Third-party controller support will debut this fall with the launch of iOS 7. Accessory makers like Logitech have not yet indicated when they plan to have accessories available for purchase.
The pictured accessory is an early build of an official "Made for iPhone" accessory, according to Logitech. The picture gives a first glimpse at what officially sanctioned iPhone gaming controllers will look like.
On the left side, the controller features a circular D-pad for directional control. On the right is the Lightning connector and a space that will direct sound from the iPhone 5 forward, along with five buttons.
Not shown in the picture are thumbsticks or trigger buttons, two features that may be included in other officially sanctioned "Made for iPhone" controllers. Apple detailed the parameters of such accessories last week at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
Apple showed off to developers two different types of controllers that it will allow to become officially approved accessories. In addition to an "form-fitting extended gamepad" style, like the pictured Logitech prototype, Apple will also allow a "standalone extended gamepad" that will connect to iOS devices wirelessly without a need to physically attach to the device.
The form-fitting design will allow users to interact with the physical buttons as well as the iOS device's multi-touch display. The standalone models will feature player indicator lights, suggesting multiplayer implementation.
Third-party controller support will debut this fall with the launch of iOS 7. Accessory makers like Logitech have not yet indicated when they plan to have accessories available for purchase.
Comments
Ps- not sure what happened because I haven't checked comments for a few days, but- ding dong the witch is dead!
The "form-fitting" market is going to be a tough one, as Apple tends to change the design every couple of years. And these things are going to be a lot more expensive to product than a simple case.
If I were a manufacturer, I'd focus on the standalone version, as that can be used with iPads too.
As well as (potentially) an Apple TV...
I think you meant to say Android, which has a gazillion different models.
I think this tells us there will be at least one mass market model of the iPhone that is the iPhone 5 size. Whether Apple releases another phone model that is bigger or smaller, we don't know. Or it could be that all iPhones and iPod touches will be the same size for the next 2-4 years.
Apple's not going to tell us.
And the way Apple supports external devices, is to provide standards. So, if they did release a new size, logitech would need to make new plastic to support the new model, but the rest of the work- the electronics and software on the logitech side-- should work fine with the new model.
Personally I'll be buying one straight away, AirPlay enabled Apple TV plus iPhone/iPad with a game pad = Awesomeness
I'm going to postulate that when the new iPhone is announced, they'll also announce a new 802.11ac-enabled AppleTV, perhaps one that can "cache" apps sent from iOS devices.
OR... perhaps the external controller won't just work with iPhones, iPods, and iPads... but also AppleTV, which will get it's own App Store. You could control games either with a $30-60 wireless controller or your iOS device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andysol
Curious- not that I was expecting it, but this basically guarantees we won't have a different sized iPhone this fall based on the specs they put out- correct?
Ps- not sure what happened because I haven't checked comments for a few days, but- ding dong the witch is dead!
I dont think so. If Apple is to introduce a new size later on, its not dumb enough to show us a bigger side game control right now that would hint at the new size immediatly. The important thing they did is to introduce what the controls will be and to introduce the dev API for them.
Even if Apple is to introduce multiple iphones and ipod touch models, they wont spread in tons of sizes either, maybe we will get 3 sizes tops. Not a problem for the game controllers.
My hopes are still for a upcoming moves in the TV market and game console market soon. Notices we didnt got an Apple TV upgrade in a while. Something is cooking. I have been expecting a move on the TV front for quite a while now, at some point I am overdone to be right... :-)
I am more and more convince the Apple TV App store will support all the iphones apps right from the start. There will still be room for specialize apps after launch. but introducing the TV with hundreds of tousands of apps will be a major thing. The current iphone 5 resolution is 1136 × 640 pixels, at 16:9 which is already almost 720p resolution.
The innovation will be the way you control them. The "remote" has to be multitouch to support current apps. If they could make a ipod touch style remote for $100 then they are golden. They could strip down on lots of components if the goal is only to support remotes features.
The potention of disruption of the game console markets and TV markets are very exciting.
I believe this is paving the way to Apple's console gaming plans for the Apple TV.
I can't wait to see iOS 7 update to AppleTV.
Hopefully we will see a similar interface overhaul and the debut of an AppStore.
I like it. Solving the controller issue for games that were built for touch screens but can be played on a TV with an iPhone or iPod with this accessory will be huge. Even on my PS3 I have noticed I now tend to prefer casual gaming as opposed to all those expensive and time consuming games. Maybe this is what Steve meant when he said he had cracked the code for TV's.
No, I think that the first wave of aTV games will be iPad game apps because these will more likely be enhanced to do controller only gameplay from a shared iPad.
More iPhone games will more than likely be adapted for controller+touchscreen interaction in the gameplay than controller only.
The multitouch controller isn't part of the new spec and is less useful without a display.
Possibly, it would be quite bad for them to start a controller manufacturing program and then just as they are about to launch iOS 7, come out with a larger model that's not compatible leaving the manufacturers to rush around making another model. I think the iPod Touch is roughly the same size but the speaker hole is on the other side of the Lightning port so they might have to make adjustments - hopefully earphones can be plugged in.
When people say they want a larger phone, they mean larger display. There is some room on the current model to go to a 4.4" tops but they might have to use OLED and a different touch sensor. That could be what Tim meant by saying that bigger screens could only happen with the right display tech. I think that this will be the physical form factor they stick with for a while.
The thing with a standalone version is that it needs a battery, wireless connection and a charging system and will have to go through a pairing process. I'd say the clip-on ones would be cheaper and easier to manufacture. They are also better for combined touch and button interaction.
That one should have two trigger buttons. The extended model will have 4 trigger buttons and two analog sticks. I imagine that games will replace the use of analog sticks with touch control so the analog stick models would be most useful in the standalone variety.
I wish they'd had a 3rd design that was just a bumper and the shoulder buttons could have been two pressure-sensitive buttons side by side on the left and right. This would have allowed people to keep the bumper on wherever they went.
The buttons on a standard controller are:
left analog = move, click to sprint
d-pad, change weapons / inventory items
4 buttons for jump, crouch, interact and melee
right analog is look, clickable too
All of those things besides possibly jump and melee can be done with touch so those two could be L2 and R2 and then L1 would be aim and R2 shoot. Alternate fire and grenades can be switched on-screen. Not to mention there's a gyro and accelerometer that can be used in driving/flying games.
Brilliant. So out of a group of people just one person needs to have the game to upload to the Apple TV. I was wondering how Apple was going to solve the problem of lag, going from controller, to iOS device, to Apple TV.. and this seems to be a good solution. As long as the wifi network is 802.11ac compatible, loading the game should not take too long, unless it's something like MC3, in which case it seems like some more local storage and an independent App Store would be necessary. I still think iTunes bolstered karaoke is going to be the killer app for the Apple TV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PatchyThePirate
Brilliant. So out of a group of people just one person needs to have the game to upload to the Apple TV. I was wondering how Apple was going to solve the problem of lag, going from controller, to iOS device, to Apple TV.. and this seems to be a good solution.
Kind of misses the point. The iPad has much better processors, graphics, and storage. You'd do best to use the iPad as the "console" and use 802.11ac and h.265 to stream the video to the big screen.
Upgrade the AppleTV with all of those things, and you're going to have to upgrade the price point too....