The Zahur universe is huge and to tell the entire story in animation would probably take far too many years. To that end, I envision a large chunk of the universe being crafted in a different domain. IN this case, I see it beautifully rendered on the screen of the iPhone. Thus enter iPhone Alchemy, a new site which is dedicated to original mobile manga, formatted particularly for the amazing touch screen of the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

There will most certainly be manga on other popular handheld devices like the Sony PSP, but until you see it on the iPhone screen it's hard to imagine why I am so excited by the possibilities. The quality and resolution of this little touch screen staggers the mind, and the rendering of color is beautiful. It's like it was made for full color manga.

The iPhone Alchemy site currently contains the free sample manga Heaven's Burden, a full color chapter of an original series exclusively on iPhone and iPod Touch. While there will be more to come for that series, look for Zahur manga to appear soon. The idea is to expand the Zahur story by having the manga cover other parts of the universe and events happening concurrent to the animated series. Other Zahur manga can even explore different time periods as the world of Zahur has a very large and diverse history with the rise and fall of great empires and worlds which setup the situation of the current show.

Needless to say, I not only think this will be huge, but I am extremely excited by the possibilities. Besides this is the most fun I have had in ages. It's like freedom. It's the ability to create without limits. It's also the opportunity to experiment, do anything, make anything and, of course, just draw beautiful images. More on this as it develops.

IN OTHER NEWS

I don't know if you've heard about the writer's strike, but the Hollywood industry is up in arms again because somebody wants more money. It's amazing to see these writers on the picket line for their four hour shift before they get into their Mercedes or BMW and drive off. Unfortunately, another major problem with the writer's strike, since I live near Warner Bros. is noise.

Aside from the continuous horn honking from passing traffic, today I awoke the sounds of drums and very loud foghorns. They are making this noise intentionally to shut down productions, still going inside Warner, which need to record audio. The sad thing is that also means that I can't record. While I don't rely on the WGA for my scripts, their actions can still have an affect on my little web show. It's not just me either. My friends are putting together a live action web series and the noise is hurting their plans as well.

I'm not certain what kind of delay this may cause for Zahur, but will keep you posted. Luckily someone called the police and got the drums and other racket stopped, but the passing traffic constantly honking is a bit more difficult to quell.

Tags: iPhone, Manga, Zahur

There's been so much said about the coming of HDTV and a future filled with massive home theatre systems, but the reality has been that smaller screens, and I mean much smaller screens, have outpaced the larger in both sales and acceptance. In Japan, where widescreen HDTV sets were the standard years ago, there are already 78 million mobile users and they are quickly consuming a lot of media content on their handsets. Some report that there are trains full of people who are watching live broadcasts on their phones.

Other parts of the world may not be so far ahead, but the trend seems the same everywhere. Smaller is catching on. People want more content, faster and they want t take it with them where they go.

The growth of this market is staggering. Apple's iPhone sold a reported 700,000 units in its three day launch weekend and with its new lower price is well on its way to 2,000,000 units in circulation. Business Week said of Apple, "...the iPhone has the potential for adding a totally new, $10 billion-a-year business within just a few years."

There are over a billion cell phones sold each year, and most modern units include screens capable of playing games, showing video, reading ebooks and, in Japan, even manga, a $20 million industry which seems to triple each year. Major companies are scrambling to create content for this brave new mobile world. TOKYOPOP, who published my own World of Hartz manga, is already the leader in the mobile manga market in America, and it is a market that is growing rapidly.

Video sharing sites like Youtube are already striking deals with major mobile content providers to make their content available on the smaller screens. Youtube viewing comes standard on every iPhone. This could quickly grow larger than TV, and some companies are paying major money for good content licenses.

Where's it all going to go? Your guess is as good as mine. Only time will tell. I do remember, though, when I got my hands on my first Sony PSP, I had tons of ideas for creating exclusive manga or anime content for that little device. I even built a site for it. Less than a year later, an underground PSP manga market exploded. Who knows how big it will get on the iPhone.

Tags: iPhone, Sony PSP, Manga, movies