iPhone Now a Cube-Solving Machine

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://cultofmac.com/your-iphone-is-better-than-you-at-solving-a-rubiks-cube/7515' target='_blank'>http://cultofmac.com/your-iphone-is...ubiks-cube/7515</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Is there anything an iPhone app cannot be programmed to do? CubeCheater is an amazing app for iPhone and iPod Touch that, given the current state of your Rubik's Cube, will tell you how to solve the puzzle in just a few moves. You can either input the cube's state using the color palette and tapping in the colors, or you can just take a picture of each face of the cube and CubeCheater will use advanced computer-vision techniques to recognize the cube for you. (The camera feature is obviously not available on iPod Touch)"</em></p><p><em><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="418" height="347" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sXJtkJOHpkk" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="418" height="347" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sXJtkJOHpkk"></embed></object></em></p><p>Yet another thing the iPhone can do that I can't do: solve a Rubik's Cube.&nbsp; I've never actually solved one in my entire life but maybe I could learn how if I got this and worked really hard?</p><p>Nah.&nbsp; I didn't think so either.&nbsp; I'll stick to popping it apart.</p><p><em></em></p>

[Jason Dunn]

I solved it once, long ago, when I was in my early teens. It's pretty hard to do when you're doing it "brute force", unlike those smarty-pants who memorize the pattern for solving it. :)

[doogald]

Crap - that's one show-off thing that anybody with an iPhone can now also do.

Well, I can still solve my 5x5x5 and 4x4x4 - take that, you iPhone pretenders!

[Vincent Ferrari]

I solved it once, long ago, when I was in my early teens. It's pretty hard to do when you're doing it "brute force", unlike those smarty-pants who memorize the pattern for solving it. :)

Apparently there's an algorithm called the "God Algorithm" which can pretty much solve any Rubik's cube configuration no matter how messed up. I would love to be good at this, but I just don't have that kind of spacial problem solving skill; I'll never be a speed cuber!

[doogald]

I don't know about algorithms, but if you give me a cube, I'll get it straight for you.

[Jason Dunn]

OK, I didn't watch the video until now - that's really cool! I have to say, there are so many really neat apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch. I'm really impressed with the creativity of the developers for it as a platform.

[Vincent Ferrari]

OK, I didn't watch the video until now - that's really cool! I have to say, there are so many really neat apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch. I'm really impressed with the creativity of the developers for it as a platform.

It's not just the creativity, but the scope of applications. For example, I have an app that has one purpose: find the Starbucks closest to me (and don't think I don't use the hell out of it). The idea that someone thought "hey, I need that" and made it... I'm finding many of the "I wish I had that" apps are things others have already developed.

It's like the iPhone / Touch really dragged developers out of their shells a bit.