The iControlPad bore many signs of vaporware: desirability, no official authorization and a low budget. We now know that there's at least one working version, and that promises of production aren't, you know, lies.

Here we can see the iControlPad wrapped around an iPhone, playing Quake. It works! But a few things stand out. First, there' a discernible lag. This is probably a software issue, as I can't imagine where along this short line of hardware connections that kind of latency could crop up. The developers say they'll have bits of source code ready for developers who want to include controls in their apps, so I hope it's a little more optimized by the time that's seeded.

Unfortunately, it's clear that "developers", means homebrew developers, as there's no indication that ZodTTD is going to get Apple's blessing on this device any time soon—something that they'd need if they wanted to see integration with App Store games. In others words, this'll only work on Jailbroken games, at least for now. That means no Brothers in Arms with a proper controller, but at least we'll be able to play our emulators properly now. [ZodTTD via NoWhereElse]

Send an email to John Herrman, the author of this post, at jherrman@gizmodo.com.