Now that iPhone OS 3.0 is out, with better support for bluetooth accessory access, it’s time we start seeing some nice accessories to make our iPhone-using experience even better. Sure, we already have a slew of standard bluetooth headsets to choose from, and now we even have A2DP stereo headsets, but that’s not what we’re talking about. No, we mean game controllers like the iControlPad, Zeemote JS1 and GameBone Pro.
The problem with these devices is simple, however: they rely on developer support to work with anything, making a spontaneous purchase moot for the foreseeable future. What the manufacturers of these devices need to do is make a deal with big-name iPhone gaming developers (is that an oxymoron?) like EA or ngmoco, and have them include support for gaming peripherals. Otherwise, there’s no sign of a gaming peripheral standard for the iPhone, which is sorely needed if these devices are to carve out a niche market among iPhone gamers. Establishing a set of standards is something these companies can actually do now, and arguably should have been doing all along. As we’re still a bit away from seeing these devices hit retail, however, perhaps we can look at them as mere prototypes while a multi-company standards board is enacted (wishful thinking, we know).
More exciting to us, however, is the prospect of a bluetooth keyboard for the iPhone, which could work with any text-input-based application. Aside from serving as a better way to input long streams of text, such a device could also be used for gamers, much as they still are for PC gaming. Combined with id iPhone releases of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, the fond memories would come trickling back like a waterfall.
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