No, your eyes aren't kidding you. That really is the processor-shredding Second Life virtual world running on an iPhone. But how? And why is it so slow? Well, the answer is that it's a concept demo produced by mobile technology firm Comverse.
In a layman's nutshell, all the processing is being done NOT on the iPhone, on a central server. All that's being streamed to the iPhone is the visuals - essentially, a video feed of the Second Life environment. Then, when you tap the on-screen buttons to move, or type in a message, that's sent back up to the server for processing.
So, it's not a Second Life client on the iPhone - it's just streaming Safari-friendly video of your SL session, with you able to send your commands back in the other direction. That's why it's this sluggish at the moment, because you're one step removed.
Still, as a proof of concept, it's pretty impressive - you wouldn't want to spend long periods of time in a virtual world using this, but if you just wanted a quick fix on the move, or to log in to check something, it works.
Comverse says it could just as easily work for World Of Warcraft or other MMOs, rather than just virtual worlds, although I'd argue that it's more suitable for sedate virtual worlds than for action-heavy MMOs, due to that lag.
Find more mobile news in our Mobile World Congress 2008 category
Hell, if this is what I wanted, then why not use VNC on my own Mac and run SL... look at the AJAX implementations and see what beauty can be achieved... iPhone SDK is coming soon guys, please make something nice... just chat and presence, no fancy video...
Yes, VNC is good but it has many disadvantages in gaming. You will have to have at least 300KBps QoS BW uplink and public IP from your ISP to connect to your MAC. Lets say there are ways to handle the public IP problem but the image streaming with VNC is not optimal and probably will exceed the 300KBps for 320x240 resolution. A centralized server, proxy-like solution with better image delivery technology is more elegant and reliable.
Not impressive in the least. I have the fullblown sl running on my blackberry without having to resort to halfbaked kitsch like this.
Also, if the person who wrote this knew anything about writing to an iphone, he would have used the accelerometer for navigation rather than clicks. Though knowing how he did it, I'm quite certain the only things he has experience with are web and quicktime.
Oooo!!! the "full blown" SL running on your Blackberry! Wonderfull!!!! Sure beats the hell out of some stupid minimal thin client like Sleek! What kind of graphics card you got in your BB? Geforce? can you port it to my Casio Wristwatch too? I mean...it doesn't really have graphics capability...but that shouldn't slow down someone like you.
Enrequiempax what app did you use to install second life on your Blackberry? I don't even want the full graphics viewer id be happy to send and recieve real time IMS from customers at my shop.
Thanks
omg im salivating...please how did you get sl on ur blackberry????
ok, is this a public released thing or is it still just a something for show?
Is there a version for everybody, because I have a iphone and i play second life.
Can i have a link to use this?
ok, is this a public released thing or is it still just a something for show?
Is there a version for everybody, because I have a iphone and i play second life.
Can i have a link to use this?
So how do I get secondlife to work on my iPhone? Step by step, because I don't know much about computers. Help plz
The only problem with using it on a Mac is well... it's a Mac...
Another note... Macs can get viruses... people just don't make them because Macs are a minority and NOBODY CARES . . . Mac users are elitist, and fashion experts... but oh wait... I can spend 1500 dollars and get twice as much power out of a PC... and wait... Still... virus free? WOW... PCs don't get viruses and don't crash if you are not an idiot.
Virus-free? Wow you live in some utopia don't you? One can get a virus via email, simple pop-ups (yes those pesky things) and just by being connected to the internet (mhm..haven't thought of that have you?). Now let's proceed to say that with Mac computers if you have 'downloaded' a virus, whether accidentally by being rather idiotic or in fact simply being on the net, a prompt is given to permission to run the first time. So, unless you say 'Hey, let's see what a virus can do..' you're fine; unlike on a PC where the code can auto-execute without user knowledge. And another thing, you generalise too much for your opinion to be taken seriously:
1) Mac users are not elitist, they simply understand the better choice,
2) PCs have higher risk (proven countless times),
3) Macs can run applications and games of the same standard if not higher than PCs - COD, Second Life to name a few (and surprisingly rather well),
4) Now at time of writing (2/7/10) a MacBook Pro of $1399 at a local Myer store is great value with processing power of 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM and Nvidia GeForce 320M Graphics...and not forgetting Mac OS X.
Anti-mac PC lovers can rant to their hearts' content, however truth remains we know the better choice.