Wearable computing is here to stay. While the revolution is just beginning, Pebble has managed to make a pretty big splash in its own right. While the Pebble isn’t an ultra-powerful smartwatch it is still very capable and will soon see its hardware pushed to the limits thanks to its recent release of its SDK to developers.

One of the first unique apps to hit the Pebble is a Tetris clone from developer Robert Hesse. While Tetris or in this case “Pebblis” isn’t exactly the most advanced game out there, it is still a nice treat for those looking to expand what their Pebble can do.

If you own a Pebble and want to give the app a try, you can grab the files from the Pebble forum and check it out for yourself.

What do you think of the idea of smartwatches? Is a bigger revolution brewing or is it merely a niche and a fad that will eventually fade away into obscurity?

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Halloween is here and with it comes candy, jack-o’ lanterns, and… Tetris? Apparently hacker Nathan Pryor has managed to create fully playable game of Tetris inside of an otherwise ordinary pumpkin.

The playable Tetris Pumpkin has 128 LEDs for the display and is officially being called by its creator as “Pumpktris”. As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of work that goes into something like this. And you thought just carving a decent looking Jack o’ Lantern was hard work.

From drywall screws to drilling and soldering, this was clearly a labor of love. Not only does this look amazing, the stem is actually a working joystick believe it or not.

In total, Pumpktris took 12 hours of work and consists of 313 solder joints and 256 pieces of heat-shrink tubing. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Tetris show up in a very strange place, but it is certainly nothing short of epic.

What do you think, kind of raises the bar when it comes to carving pumpkins doesn’t it?

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Over the course of the years, the ninety-five foot tall Building 54 has been the center of plenty of hacker attempts on visual displays, thanks to its grid-like windows to the front. The new hack realizes a pretty impressive dream, a gigantic game of Tetris.

For those that were asleep during the late-80s and early-90s, Tetris was a Russian game that was highly popularized after being purchased by Nintendo and slapped onto the Gameboy. The 21-story MIT building, known as the Green Building, has windows arranged in an 18 x 9 grid, which isn’t exactly the same as the 20 cells by 10 cells wide display common for Tetris, but it certainly works well enough as the pictures show.

The MIT IHTFP hack didn’t show how the Tetris game was accomplished, but it has something to do with mult-color LED lighting modules at each of the windows. Pretty cool MIT trick, though I’d be more impressed with a giant game of Angry Birds, or perhaps Super Mario Brothers. Yes, I’m hard to please like that. Kidding aside, its clear the folks behind this have a bit more time on their hands than most of us.

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Most gamers over the age of ten are sure to have heard of or even played the Tetris game.  Tetris of course, is known as the most popular puzzle video games and one of the most popular games of all time. Its sold over 70 million copies throughout the world and is available on almost any gaming device, including the iPhone.  If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and might have forgotten about the old school favorite, you can download it to your device on iTunes for the only $4.99 (£2.99).

In the Tetris game app by EA Mobile, there are two gameplay modes, Marathon mode and Magic mode.  Marathon mode is the classic Tetris game we grew up playing on the NES and Game Boy.  You have to last as long as you can in the seemingly endless onslaught of tetrominoes until your stack reaches the top of the Tetris matrix.  If you loved the original game, this mode alone is worth the buy.

Magic Mode is the new addition to Tetris on the iPhone.  It basically adds power ups to the game if you can eliminate enough rows of tetrominoes.  These power ups include a bubble wrap power up that allows you to pop each piece like bubble wrap, and the crayon add up which allows you to draw the exact piece you want on the iPhone screen.  These power ups are pretty cool, but the rest of them are not nearly as impressive or creative as the previous two.  I like this mode in that it puts forth an effort to be a little creative with a game that has remained for the most part unchanged since its creation over two decades ago.

The graphics in the Tetris app are outstanding.  The tetrominoes are colorful, sharp, and smooth moving that really gives the app a big boost.  The sound effects are good but nothing to rave about.  The music in the game is terrible.  It sounds nothing like the original game and should be for the most part ignored.  You can use your own music when in the game and that can make play much better.  If you’re a classic Tetris player, I’d recommend getting the original songs on it which would really recreate the experience and make it a lot more fun to play.

The controls are superb.  The multi-touch screen on the iPhone is utilized to perfection.  To move the piece left or right, simply drag your finger left or right on the screen respectively.  To turn the piece, simply tap the screen.  To drop it, flick your finger down on the screen.  It is incredibly simple, tight, and responsive.  It is very tough to make a controlling mistake in this game and the controls alone make it a sheer pleasure to play.

Tetris is just a very good app and is well worth the money for a download.  If you loved Tetris on the NES, then this game is sure to please.  It is a classic game, seamlessly ported to the iPhone, with a reasonable price tag.  It is fun, addicting, and nostalgic which is the stuff great apps are made of.  I highly recommend Tetris for the iPhone.

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