Despite the name, iRacing is not for iOS devices. Actually it’s quite the opposite — iRacing is a realistic racing simulator on PC for hardcore fans of the racing genre. The game, which has typically relied on wheel or joystick input, has been updated for tilt and touch control by Ultrabooks with built-in sensors. iRacing developer David Tucker walks us through the dev process.
It was towards the end of last year that we signed-off with the first ever Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge where four teams had 6 weeks to code an application that would highlight the unique features of Ultrabooks. Based around the use of sensors we learnt a lot of useful coding tips, user interface do’s and don’ts and saw six teams producing a varied range of applications. I have recently been in contact with some of the teams to get an update on what they learnt and to get coding and marketing tips for other developers thinking of working with Ultrabooks.
Coming soon! Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge II
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It’s Friday which means it’s time to give some attention to the software side of things with our continuing series of articles written in collboration with Intel. This week we’ve got the first ever Ultrabooknews podcast for you and guesting on the podcasts is Intel’s community manager for Ultrabooks and tablets, Bob Duffy.
Bob works in a team responsible for the Intel Developer Zone – the one-stop-shop for all your software dev information, forums, competitions, blogs, code examples, SDKs and more. The Intel Development Zone Ultrabook section is here.
In the podcast (24 minutes long) we have a great discussion about what happened at CES, about Ultrabook convertible form factors, what Haswell brings to the table, Connected Standby, CLovertrail, Bay Trail, touch, sensors, perceptual computing, events, competitions and more.
As part of our continuing co-op with Intel on highlighting interesting and useful Ultrabook resources we’ve got another bunch of info for software developers this week – a very useful guide to designing for Ultrabook Convertibles.
Related software development articles:
As part of our continuing work with Intel to highlight interesting software and developer demos, techniques and tools for Ultrabooks running Windows 8 we’ve got something here that would interest software developers looking at integrating media, social and sensor into their Windows 8 desktop software.
Hopefully, as a developer, you’re aware that some Windows 8 Ultrabooks have sensor integration. Sensors include cameras, GPS, NFC, touch, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, accelerometer and electronic compass. If you’re interested in this area, check out a really detailed tutorial with information and code pack from Intel – Ultrabook™ Desktop Applications Development on Windows* 8: Photo Application with Touch and Sensors The how-to shows how you can implement some of the new sensor features in your Windows 8 desktop application.
All the teams have submitted their code for the Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge, all the judges have set up their Ultrabooks with the same OS and drivers and we’re well into the process of final judging. I’ve tested all the apps and it’s now time to review them. Scoring will happen over the next week and then, we’ll have a winner!
The six teams competing in the Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge have one more day to go. On the 28th September they must submit their final code to Intel. In the following week I will be testing and scoring with the other judges and on October 8th we’re going to see who’s won $10K.
Yes this is a promotional activity by Intel, but it’s one of the most interesting and educational I’ve ever been involved in. We’ve all learnt a lot and a useful trail of posts has been left by the contestants for anyone thinking about creating an Ultrabook-focused version of their Windows 8 application for either desktop or Windows 8 Store. You can find all of the posts, plus my commentary, here.
So on to the final week. Was it all about bug-fixing? Did anyone have to drop features? Read-on
In just a few hours the press will be gathering in San Francisco for the warm-up to IDF 2012. The Intel Developer Forum is the most important of the years IDF events as it represents the start of a new wave of marketing for Intel and allows analysts to piece together a picture of what Intel will get up to in 2013. In terms of Ultrabooks we already know that we’ve got Windows 8, touch and Haswell coming but there’s more to it than that. Here’s what you can expect from us over the next week as we attend 4 days of Intel events.
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