New Kickstarter Project: iEmu - An Open-Source iOS Emulator
by Joe White
August 30, 2011
An interesting Kickstarter project aims to create an iOS emulator, which will be compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux, along with mobile platforms such as Android.
The veteran iPhone hacker Chris Wade is the man with the plan, and he's looking for $20,000 in Kickstarter donations in order to cover his living costs for three months, website hosting costs and the shipping of his Kickstarter treats (which high-end investors will receive as a "thank you"). At the end of this time frame, he's hoping to have developed "iEmu," an iOS emulator that should be able to run on most desktop and mobile operating systems.
But is this even achievable?
I don't know, though it sure is a mammoth task. The good news is that Chris has already made some progress: His team has figured out how to emulate the CPU, meaning, as TechCrunch explains, that:
[T]hey still need to hack together emulated support for the GPU, USB controller, Multitouch controller, the memory, the audio system, and all of the secondary components (the Bluetooth chip, GPS, compass, etc.) And once they’ve got all the hardware stuff covered? Then they get to figure out how to force all this stuff to boot.Like I said, "mammoth task." Regardless, it certainly would be great if Chris and his team managed to develop iEmu. With an App Store bursting at the seams with fun, addictive and useful applications, the ability to run these apps on non-iOS devices would be appreciated by many. For more information, including the option of backing the project, head on over to its Kickstarter webpage.
