Quitting smoking isn't child's play. Or is it?

You can play music on the iPhone with the Leaf Trombone app. Researchers believe they can come up with a similar app for smokers to help them quit smoking. Credit: Peter DaSilva/Los Angeles Times .

In a few years if you see a person nervously blowing on his cellphone for five minutes, do not call the cops. He might not be a crazy person who forgot to take his meds; he might just be a smoker trying to quit smoking.

Columbia University's Teachers College announced today that it received a  $150,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, through the foundation's Health Games Research national program to develop a smart phone app that emulates the physiological responses smokers get from smoking.

The first apps are likely to be for Apple Inc.'s iPhone or iPod Touch. The user would control the game by blowing into the device's microphone in response to different color and sound stimuli coming from the handset. Researchers hope that it will be able to elicit the same brain patterns, heart rate levels and relaxation responses that smokers get from smoking. The game, Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers, is expected to be released in about two years.

Breath therapy has been used to help smokers quit smoking for a while, but it's hoped that the game will  disseminate this technique to the masses. "You don't have to learn anything; the game will cause you to breathe the right way," said Charles Kinzer, professor of education in the Communication, Computing and Technology Program and the Game Research Lab at Teachers College.

Technology is being used in another way to help smokers quit smoking. Researchers at the GRAP Occupational Psychology Clinic and the University of Quebec in Gatineau recently found that smokers who crushed virtual cigarettes experienced a significant reduction in nicotine addiction.

Tobacco use is still the leading cause of death in the United States, according to a statement from Kinzer and the Lit project team. It added that 70% of adult smokers say they want to quit, and more than 40% try to quit each year.

Kinzer said, "If we can capitalize on the motivational aspect of games and the availability of mobile devices, there is tremendous potential to positively affect heath and wellness for smokers who want to quit, and this would have implications for healthcare costs as well."

--Melissa Rohlin

Nintendo prepping 'New Super Mario Bros. Wii' and 'Zelda: Spirit Tracks' for the holidays

Nintendo is loading up the big guns this holiday season with new entries into two of its biggest franchises. Brand X got to spend some time with New Super Mario Bros. Wii and some of the other games a few days ago.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii feels more old than it does new. The game is similar to the New Super Mario Bros. game that launched to rave reviews on the Nintendo DS in 2006.

In addition to some controller-shaking features exclusive to the Wii hardware, the new Mario game multiplies the craziness by four. Scheduled to hit stores Nov. 15, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the first Mario adventure that lets four players do their thing at the same time. It feels pretty chaotic, but we just couldn't put it down.

Check out the video demo at the top for a sneak peak at the new Mario game, along with The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the Nintendo DS and the recently released Wii Fit Plus.

-- Mark Milian and Alexandra Le Tellier

Video credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times

Crystal Harris, the Playmate behind Playboy Hugh Hefner's Twitter profile

Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner is 83 years old. He doesn't own a cellphone or spend any significant amount of time on the computer.

How could someone so disconnected from technology post several tweets a day and garner more than 100,000 Twitter followers?

He has his beautiful blond girlfriend to thank.

Crystal Harris, the costar on the new season of Playboy's E! TV show "The Girls Next Door" and one of Hefner's three new girlfriends, Twitters her lover's musings.

"He writes them down, and Crystal tweets them," said Kristina Shannon, one of Hefner's twin girlfriends, in an interview last week at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

"Or Amanda in the office," Hefner chimed in, "if someone forgets," he said affectionately.

Celebrities, including Britney Spears and 50 Cent, have gotten flak in the past for having staffers Twitter for them. But if they're actually coming from Hefner, as they assert, via his gorgeous lady friend, we'll let it slide.

Playboy is selectively welcoming technologies into its home. Some new -- for example, the company has a cutting-edge film crew that records every interview Hefner does. Some old -- like the video-game arcade next to the mansion, complete with Playboy-branded pinball machines. Take a tour of the arcade by clicking "continue reading" below.

-- Mark Milian

Follow my commentary on technology and social media on Twitter @markmilian.

TechCrunch50: Dot-com dreams

At the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco, the focus is clearly on start-ups with solid business plans. Some are even making money already.

But that’s not to say entrepreneurs have given up on the attention-getting gimmickry that often characterizes such trade shows.

Redbeacon, which is offering ways for local businesses to get customers, demonstrated its service by ordering 500 cupcakes -- and then delivering the cupcakes throughout the conference hall.

IMo, a two-person company based in India, nearly bombed when it blasted the song “Eye of the Tiger” and then the demonstration failed. But iMo co-founder Himanshu Baweja bounced back later, in what was probably the best demo of the show. For one thing, he didn’t utter a single word in showing how he’s developed an application that makes an iPhone work like a joystick -- in conjunction with any PC-based video game.

Baweja dressed first as a motorcycle rider and played a racing game. He stripped the jacket and helmet, dressed as a pilot, and showed an airplane game, to the tune of "Danger Zone." The pilot hat and jacket dropped, and he picked up a baseball bat, playing an urban street-fighter game to the tune of "In Da Club." In the question-and-answer period that followed, he said the app would sell for 99 cents.

-- Dan Fost

No, Blizzard's DRM doesn't require players to always be online

Chill out, folks. You will be able to fire up your laptops and play StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty on the plane.

Last week, when we wrote about the anti-piracy efforts Blizzard Entertainmentwould be taking next year with StarCraft II, fans fumed. (Many assumed, though Blizzard would not confirm, that the same anti-piracy mechanisms would also be used for Diablo III, which the Irvine game developer said would come out sometime after StarCraft II.)

The stipulation that players must verify their copies of the game over the Internet by phoning home to Blizzard wasn't sitting well.

The concept reminded users of the bad taste left by digital-rights management locks that plagued the early days of legitimate music downloads, with Apple's iTunes at the forefront.

To clarify, you will indeed need an Internet connection when you first install the game. You'll also need a connection to play with other people. (To the chagrin of many players, Blizzard won't include LAN support-- the ability to play with others on the same computer network, such as at a dorm -- without going online.)

But you can freely disconnect and play single-player or challenge modes, wrote Blizzard spokesman Shon Damron in an e-mail. Obviously, you won't get ...

BlizzCon overflows with excitement after attendees play StarCraft II and Diablo III

Hundreds of fans play an early version of Diablo III while many more fans wait in line. Credit: Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times

When Activision Blizzard announced it was pushing back the release of its hugely-anticipated computer game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to 2010 from this year, fans began to worry that maybe the game's development wasn't as far along as they had expected.

Blizzard Entertainment, the game's Irvine-based developer, put those concerns to rest with a fully playable multiplayer version of the game that was presented to media and fans at its annual BlizzCon event at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The initial buzz among the conference's 26,000 attendees revolved around World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the expansion to the massively multiplayer online PC game. But once gamers got their hands on the sequel to the most popular real-time strategy game for the PC, BlizzCon shifted its focus to StarCraft II.

The game feels complete. We didn't run into any bugs or oddities during several game sessions. Each faction appeared delicately balanced with teams able to achieve victories using a wide variety of tactics and mercenaries. The first batch of feedback from fans was overwhelmingly positive, developers at the show said.

In reality, the sequel isn't all that different from the original StarCraft, which first stormed store shelves in 1998. That's kind of the point, Blizzard Chief Operating Officer Paul Sams said. "The original formula is important," he said Saturday in Anaheim. "StarCraft is all about speed. It's all about big armies and the competition."

The competitive aspect is a big reason for the delay. Blizzard is prepping a new version of its online gaming platform ...

Felicia Day and 'The Guild' cast rock some geekpop with 'Avatar' music video

Felicia Day and the cast of the popular Web series "The Guild" have put out a flashy, catchy music video called "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar," adding to the growing genre of fantasy video game-based music videos.

The video, which includes plenty of World of Warcraft-type visual gags, is smartly directed by Jed Whedon, who also co-produced "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." Day has frequently worked with Whedon and the Dollhouse Mafia -- a name I made up for the production cabal headed up by Whedon's brother Joss, cult hero and creator of "Dollhouse" and the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" franchise.

The new season of "The Guild" will be released on XBox live Aug. 25.

-- David Sarno

Appiphilia: Forget Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. You're the next American Idol

Behind the scenes of "American Idol" during Season 2 in 2003. Credit: David Strick / For The Times

Soon, the seats in Idoldome will empty. The elaborate set will be dismantled. And the haunting strains of the singers and synthesizer that begin "American Idol" will become a mere echo. 

What's a couch-bound Idol addict to do until January? Apparently, Electronic Arts and the producers of the popular variety show competition think you should try your hand at sliding your way into the "American Idol" top spot with a new iPhone app: American Idol: The Game. This is the show's second foray into the app world.

Initially, when I saw the game, I cleared my throat and sat up straight. My hope was that you'd somehow have to sing into your phone, like a karaoke version of the Ocarina app, and do battle with friends and judges.

Unfortunately, I have to wait a bit longer for that dream to come true. This game is more about timing, agility and the accelerometer than tone, interpretation and meter. 

But when the app launched and I saw that Idol opening sequence, with the faces of Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks and my all-time favorite, David Cook, flashing by, it gave me hope that this game might fill the emptiness left by the season's close.

Here's how we voted for the American Idol game. After the break (I mean the jump) ...