iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
News Category: Mix

Chinese-language paper the Economic Daily News is reporting that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) are likely to land chip orders from Apple for an upcoming iPhone, possibly the rumored iPhone nano. According to the report, the orders may come in March, while the launch of the handset itself is said to be scheduled for June at the earliest.

Long-time console gaming veterans Chris Ulm, Farzad Varahramyan, Emmanuel Valdez, Rick Olaffson, and Paul O’Connor, all past founding members of High Moon Studios, have teamed up to create Appy Entertainment, a new iPhone gaming company. Along with Executive Producer Steve Sargent and Lead Programmer Marc-Antoine Argenton, the Appy team’s resume includes games such as Ready 2 Rumble, the Oddworld series, and The Bourne Conspiracy. The company has yet to announce its first game, but encourages interested parties to visit its blog.

Monsoon Multimedia has announced its HAVA Player for the iPhone. The HAVA Player will allow users to view and control their home television and services directly from the device, using an on-screen remote and place-shifting technology. In addition, the company has added the ability for users to export their HAVA DVR recordings to iTunes to take recorded content with them. Monsoon’s export to iTunes feature will be available as a free direct download in Q1, while the HAVA Player for iPhone will also be free and is expected to be available in Q2 of 2009.

Billboard is reporting that fans of the Flight of the Conchords will be able to download music from each episode of their HBO show’s second season on iTunes. Unlike the first season, which saw its music released as an album well after the season ended, users will be able to download the new tracks directly from iTunes the day after each episode airs. The band’s debut EP won a Grammy for best comedy album; their self-titled full-length effort, which featured music from the show’s first season, is currently up for a Grammy in the same category.