MarcForrest.com

Category: iPhone

  • DroneDeploy App with DJI Phantom4

    DroneDeploy App with DJI Phantom4

    I recently came across a really awesome app for my new favorite tech, the DJI Phantom 4. The app/service is called DroneDeploy and offers pre-planned autonomous flights over a specified area.

    Firstly you install the DroneDeploy app (iOS & Android) on your phone, which allows you to plan your flight. Once you have done your planning, which can take a little while to get 100%, you then upload the images that have been taken to the DroneDeploy website.

    The results of the flight are then published in a number of formats including 2D Mapping, 3D mapping & modelling, Agricultural Mapping & Terrain & Elevation Mapping. I recently did a flight over an area, called Sugar Rush Park, in Ballito, and here are some of the results.

    You will see in the below embed you can zoom in quite a bit and get high a very high resolution image for the 2D Mapping

    But what really blew me away was the amazing 3D rendering of the images that are uploaded to the DroneDeploy Site.

    You can zoom in on the above image and pan around with your mouse. Although some of the textures seem to look a bit funny, you can fix this by uploading more images of the flight. All of this done with a drone!! Amazing.

    The other great feature of Drone Deploy is very useful for the Agricultural sector. The software allows you to analyze crops using some serious technology. I don’t understand all the ins & outs, but the software offers a number of farming Algorithms such as NDVI and VARI to analyze crops. This is what the image looks like once it has been processed.

    pic2

    Obviously there is a cost for this software, which comes in at $99 per month for the Pro Package. They do offer a 30 Day Trial which is handy to get your head around the software, as well as a Free Package which allows you to do 5 flights a month but no exporting. Check out some of the FAQ’s

    All in all, this is an amazing piece of software, unfortunately can’t afford it at the moment, but hopefully I will get to play around with it a bit more in the future.

    Disclaimer: I was not asked to review DroneDeploy, and this is my personal opinion of the software

  • Awesome iOS Apps: BlackBox

    Awesome iOS Apps: BlackBox

    It’s been a while since I have reviewed any cool iOS apps, and I really want to start doing it again. So here is there first one ;)

    I came across this awesome iOS puzzle game the other day called Blackbox. The game literally makes you thinking outside the box when using your device.

    blackbox2

    But the catch is that ALL the puzzles require absolutely no touching on the screen. All the puzzles are solved using various hardware features on the phone. So as an example using the volume buttons or changing the brightness will solve the puzzles. It also uses a clever way to gain hints using your social platforms to allow other players of the game to help you along.

    This is definitely one of the harder puzzle games I have played in a while. You WILL be frustrated with this game, but it is so clever that when you figure out the puzzle, you will probably kick yourself.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KErQdQQq5Pg

    The app is FREE on the appstore and you can purchase hints and extended packs, but play the free version first to get a hang of it and frustrate yourself :)

    [itunes url=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackbox-think-outside-box/id962969578?mt=8″/]

  • How to easily clear RAM on your iOS Device

    How to easily clear RAM on your iOS Device

    I posted this awesome iOS tip the other day on Twitter, and didn’t realise until this morning that I had been featured on Gizmodo & Cult Of Mac where they wrote about it!! Ha

    The process is pretty simple as above. Firstly make sure your iPhone is unlocked and then hold down the power button as if you were turning off the phone. Instead of the usual “slide to power off” swipe to turn it off, hold down the Home button for around 5 seconds. You should see the phone go straight back to your applications screen.

    A few people have asked about the benefit, and from my understanding it clears the unused RAM on the phone. I have done a number of tests to see if it works and I can promise it helps speed the phone up, a LOT!

    Here is an example of a before and after screenshot of the RAM usage on my iPhone 6 Plus.

    BEFOREFullSizeRender (1)

    AFTER

    FullSizeRender (2)

    As you can see a considerable difference! And it def does work!!




  • Review: Unotelly iOS App

    Review: Unotelly iOS App

    If you saw my previous post on How to get Netflix in South Africa, you would have seen I recommended an awesome little service called , which allows you use their DNS to view US based content on Netflix.

    The one downfall with is that every time your IP address changes (router restarts or ISP gives you a new IP) you have to login to to update the IP. This can be rather annoying and frustrating when trying to watch something and realise you need to update your IP on Unotelly.

    So enter, the Unotelly iPhone app. Once you have logged into the app, you can simply click a button which allows you to update your IP automatically. So much simpler!!
    You can also change the settings on various channels that offers.

    It’s a very simple app, but helps with one of the more annoying issues.

  • Deregister yourself from iMessage

    Deregister yourself from iMessage

    Ever sent an SMS to someone who has recently changed from an iOS device to a non iOS device ? The alarmingly red exclamation mark pops up next to the little blue message, and never gets delivered which usually ends in tears from either party. You can force the message to go through as a text message, but more often than not this new non iOS person never gets the message.

    Finally Apple have quietly released a very cool tool which allows these people to de-register themselves from using iMessage, meaning their messages will always be delivered as an SMS and not iMessage.

    If you still have your iPhone you can simply turn off iMessage which will then de-register you.

    But, if you no longer have your iPhone, you can head on over to https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage, where you simply need to put in your cellphone number, and you will recive an SMS with a code, which you then need to enter in on the site. Simple!

    Yay, I’m stoked that Apple finally came up with that much needed solution :)