Ishan Ahuja

Real Racing 2 HD (with 1080p output)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:50:00 +0530

Support for full screen 1080p output on iPad 2 will be included in the next major update for Real Racing 2 HD. At this resolution, the game looks utterly fantastic and runs at a silky smooth 30 frames per second. The dream of relaxing on your couch, iPad 2 as your steering wheel in hand and playing Real Racing 2 HD on your big screen is almost here!

Though it’s using the HDMI adapter on the iPad, it is actually using both the screens optimally, by showing the map and other info on the iPad and the actual gameplay on the HD Display. And thanks to the A5 chip, the rendering is touted as crisp, detailed, and snappy!

Really makes me want to get the new iPad. Sigh.

A Light in India

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:00:08 +0530

A Light in India:

What the company illustrates is a different way to think about innovation — one that is suitable for global problems that stem from poor people’s lack of access to energy, water, housing and education.

An inspiring essay on the “frugal innovation” that led to the creation of Husk Power Systems. Goes to show that high technology needn’t only address the needs of the affluent - it can be implemented in the poorest of places to great results.

You Win, RIM!

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 10:06:07 +0530

You Win, RIM!:

Considering how terribly designed the entire process is, from the registration right through to loading an app into the simulator, I can only assume that you are trying to drive developers away by inconveniencing them as much as humanly possible. Just in case you’ve forgotten, let me give you a little recap of the process you’ve put together.

A developer writes about the woes of developing an app for the RIM Playbook. Seems like an utterly unintegrated if not broken workflow. If RIM intends to compete in the tablet market, having such a high barrier to entry for developers is definitely not the way to go.

RIM Developer Relations posted a response to this on their Developer’s Blog.

Piracy is Progressive Taxation, and Other Thoughts on the Evolution of Online Distribution

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:00:08 +0530

Piracy is Progressive Taxation, and Other Thoughts on the Evolution of Online Distribution:

Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.

An essay by Tim O’Reilly that I really like, and keep going back to. It pushes one towards a more balanced view of “piracy”, and prods one to go beyond the knee-jerk reaction to piracy, showing an oft-overlooked side of the picture.

Founders at Work: Steve Woz

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 10:00:08 +0530

Founders at Work: Steve Woz:

So we said, “Okay, we’ll do Apple Computer.” In those days there was no money yet in this microcomputer business, and big experienced companies and investors, analysts—those kind of people, that are trained in business and much smarter than we were—they didn’t think that this was going to be a real big market. They thought it was going to be a little hobby thing, like home robots or ham radios, that a few techie people would get into and really it wasn’t going to go to the masses.

Woz, Apple’s co-founder, provides a refreshing peek into the origins of Apple, and how the personal computer really took off. Lots of little anecdotes, lots of awe instilling technical wizardry, and loads to learn from! A longish read, but really worth the time.

Airbnb, and a lesson on hustling!

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:00:07 +0530

Airbnb, and a lesson on hustling!:

Airbnb is a great new way to find a space to live in, when in a new city. Instead of checking in at a hotel, one can simply look up spaces that people are willing to share or rent out for the duration of their stay.

This article by Fred Wilson offers up an interesting anecdote about the (relatively) early days of Airbnb, and how they raised their seed capital. Fun story, with a great takeaway: It’s not just about the idea, it’s about how hard you’re willing to hustle to make the idea a reality.

Whenever someone tells me that they can’t figure out how to raise the first $25,000 they need to get their company started I stand up, walk over to the cereal box, and tell this story. It is a story of pure unadulterated hustle. And I love it.

And don’t miss the comments on the post - there are a few interesting and insightful ones.

UPDATE: Paul Graham (co-founder of YCombinator) has posted an exchange he had with Fred Wilson, urging him to invest in Airbnb.

A Cognitive Teardown of the Angry Birds User Experience

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:01:00 +0530

A Cognitive Teardown of the Angry Birds User Experience:

An in-depth look at what makes the seemingly repetitive and straightforward game so engaging. A lot of design principles, big and small, are put to great use in drawing the user into the Angry Birds world.

Headless Foxes

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 23:31:00 +0530

Headless Foxes:

If we want to break away from an inherently centralised programming model and make developers lives easier we need to make the client and the server one and the same. Equal in capability and equal in developing tools and technologies.

Interesting concept, indeed. Writing a browser-based multiplayer game, I really like that I can reuse parts of my JavaScript code on my node.js server. Adding support for features hitherto exclusive to the client-side would really take it to the next level.