MarcForrest.com

Category: On The Marc

  • cnectd – A proudly South African mobile application

    You may have seen the trending topic on Twitter today for Cnectd. Cnectd is a mobile application, that can be used between iPhone, BlackBerry, Android & Nokia. The application works in the same way as the popular BlackBerry messenger, which allows users to send instant messages between devices, except now, cnectd can be used across all the above platforms.

    The coolest thing about cnectd, is that it is PROUDLY South African :) The app was developed by a bunch of guys in Jozi called MCI Consultants who have previously released a couple of iPhone apps.

    Here is the info from the App store:

    cnectd(“,) is a messaging application for smart phones that is currently available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry & Symbian. Cnectd allows you to send text messages, and share pictures and your location with your contacts. The push notification messages ensure you’ll always get messages even when you’re not in the app. No need to spend money on expensive SMS/MMS messaging anymore. Cnectd lets you find new friends in your area and begin chatting.

    Once you have signed up to cnectd you can add your friends using your Facebook profile, or by inviting them over email. When you recieve a message, you get a push notification alerting you of the awaiting message.

    Click here to download cnectd for iPhone – http://iphonecnectd.notlong.com

    Click here to download cnectd for Android – http://androidcnectd.notlong.com

    Click here to download cnectd for Symbian (Nokia) – http://symbiancnectd.notlong.com

    Click here to download cnectd for Blackberry – http://blackberrycnectd.notlong.com

    This app is perfect for you if all your mates have different phones. My username is marcforrest. Don’t forget to add me. Let me know your thoughts on the app below.

  • Google Streetview LIVE in South Africa

    Google Streetview LIVE in South Africa

    Just got a tweet from @GaryMeyerza to say Streetview is working in South Africa, but so far only on the iPhone.

    [blackbirdpie id="14635140326"]

    Google streetview was supposed to launch to the press tommorrow, but the event has been cancelled. If you use Google Maps on your iPhone, you will see it is working:

    Here are 2 local streetview images I found:

    Gateway Shopping Centre in Durbs
    INSIDE Moses Mabhida Stadium !!! Taken with the Google Trike

    If you want to test on your iPhone, do the following:

    1. Open Maps on the iPhone
    2. Switch to Hybrid view
    3. Drop a pin
    4. On the Left hand side of the pin info bar, is an orange icon, if this icon “lights up” you can click on it, and it will show you the streetview in that area.

    This means it shouldn’t be too long before Google officially launch the full product on http://maps.google.com

    Update: hmm, seems like someone at Google saw this, and turned it off :( Hopefully should be up soon

  • Slaapstad

    Here is another post from one of the new contributors to the site, Mr. Shawn Muller. Shawn is proudly South African dad of 2 and never takes himself too seriously. Read Shawns take on the mother city of Slaapstad and how they preparing themselves for the World Cup in a couple of days time

    Look, I love Cape Town.  It’s my second favourite city in the world.  Not that I’ve lived much elsewhere, but ja – just roll with it.  I even voted for it 387 times when we went monopoly crazy and fell crucially short – losing to that metropolitan marvel that is Istanbul.  Never been there either… but from where I’m sitting… meh.

    But something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Okay, maybe not rotten… maybe just asleep. You know, taking one of those afterSundaylunchnaps on a sunny spot in the house. Ahhhh, but look it’s Tuesday, the guests have gone and Cape Town is still taking slumbered walks to the fridge to get a spoonful of something tasty.

    I must admit I’ve been hearing the faint snore in the background for some time but came face to face with it a few months ago when I finally got gatvol of the old carpet (there were doggie stains on top of wine stains on top of kiddywipedhandsoncarpet stains on top of maidsgoodbyepresent stains – another post) and decided to replace it.  Let the hunt for laminate flooring begin.  I scouted around and finally found the one we liked most.  But heck, it’s way over budget.  So I scrounge around… Get a few more quotes and all of it is expensive. Eventually, I track down a company in Joburg that stocks the floor, hoping to find some other leads in Cape Town.  But no, not enough for that Joburg folk – “Why don’t you buy from us and we’ll ship it down – it’ll be cheaper and faster.  Let us send you a quote”  Within minutes I had a quote.  Yikes these okes are jacked.  I bought the floor from them and when I wanted to know approximate delivery time (again… time… not date) I popped of an email and wait for it… they called me back… and the couriers called.  I was impressed. Not only was it cheaper and faster to order from Joburg, the service throughout was superb.

    Even now, with SA getting into that FIFA vibe, mirror sox are all the rage.  But not in Cape Town.  Ja, you see the odd sock here and there but I never saw any at the robots.  I suppose the cellphone chargers and bulls shirts (yes – in Cape Town) and Portugal flags was all they can hold. So, I gummed a tree and sent off a few emails. I even requested via @bobskinstad to find out where in Cape Town I could find some. The first concrete lead came via email from Joburg. Again, none of the R85 rip-off quotes I got on via twitter, R 35 plus posting.  And it’ll take a few days. Then, I heard the silence, the snoring stopped, something stirred, Cape Town was waking up.  National Flag got back to me and they had the socks at R 45!  Yay!  But alas… They’ll only get stock next Friday.  Turns out what I mistook for Cape Town jumping out of bed was just the city turning over to find out if Beckham has been spotted at the waterfront yet.

    Is doing business in Cape Town really that difficult? Is the service that bad? We’ve all heard people fly to Joburg, buy a car and drive it down. Has anyone else had such an experience?  Is Cape Town really Slaapstad?

  • Introducing Themergency.com

    Over the last couple of weeks, I have been working alongside my mate, Brad, on a new project called Themergency.

    The site is still in it’s infancy stages, but the idea behind themergency is to showcase the cream of the crop of WordPress themes & plugins. We also will take a look at whats new on the wordpress scene, and Brad will work his magic and conjour up some cool plugins.

    So far we have released 2 plugins. The first is called Twitter @Anywhere plugin, which allows you to use shortcodes in your WordPress site, and use the full functionality the Twitter @Anywhere API. This means, all twitter usernames in your posts will be able to use hovercards, as well as being able to tweet from your site.

    The 2nd plugin is called “Twitter Blackbird Pie” and allows you to insert tweets into your posts, also using shortcodes. No need for those horrible screenshots when you want to show a tweet in your post.

    By Posting the following shortcode in my post [[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/MarcForrest/status/14286781807″]], you can see the result below:

    [blackbirdpie id=”14286781807″]

    There also a couple of other cool tips & tricks on the site, with loads more coming soon. We are also on Twitter – @Themergency, so if you are a WordPress fan, like us, then head on over to themergency.com

  • CoPilot Live South Africa iPhone App review

    The guys from CoPilot have recently launched their latest iPhone app offering in the form of “CoPilot Live South Africa” (iTunes Link). The app, which costs $54.99 on the app store, is full of features, and has a distinct  World Cup feel to it, including POI’s for the gates at each World Cup Venue. Very cool !

    Here is a bit of info from the CoPilot team:

    Today we are releasing our South Africa apps and maps, just in time for the build-up to the tournament. Available for iPhone, Android smartphones and Windows Phones, CoPilot Live South Africa can help fans find their way with confidence wherever they need to go, whether to the hotel, airport or the game. Thousands of useful points of interest are also pre-installed, including the locations of ATMs, hotels, restaurants, bars, car hire offices and airports. It can even provide directions to specific gates at tournament stadiums.
    On the road, CoPilot Live’s advanced guidance features make it easy to see where to go, with 2D and 3D map views, lane assistance display and speed limit indicator.


    I have been playing with the app over the last couple of days, and I am mighty impressed. The user interface of the app is simple to use, the colours of the maps are easy to see, and the voice navigation is also brilliant. Overall, the app is smooth and slick. For me the biggest thing with an iPhone app is the interface, as it has to be easy enough to use when driving. The CoPilot app definitely does this hands down. I’m looking forward to using this app more and more.

    Check out this video from the guys at CoPilot demoing the app.

    Here is the feature list about the app:

    FULL-FEATURED SAT NAV NAVIGATION ON YOUR iPHONE:

    • Turn-by-turn voice directions door to door
    • Clear 3D and 2D driving views with speed-variable zoom and street names
    • Navigate to a house number, street, address book contact or one of thousands of points of interest
    • Lane indicator display and CoPilot ClearTurn™ provide easy-to-follow directions at complex junctions
    • Adjustable speed limit warnings
    • Multiple-stop trips, waypoints and pre-trip planning
    • Guidance in tunnels and underpasses
    • Huge range of customization options

    DETAILED STREET MAPS

    • Street maps of South Africa stored on your iPhone.
    • Thousands of pre-loaded points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, car hire locations, ATMs and football stadiums

    iPHONE INTEGRATION

    • SmartCall remembers your destination after a phone call
    • Dial or navigate to any POI (Point of Interest) displayed on the map by tapping on-screen
    • Portrait/landscape display auto-switching and pinch to zoom the map
    • Access iPod music controls from in-app

    LIVE SERVICES (requires a mobile Internet connection)

    • LiveLink™ location sharing: let others see where you are at all times, Live on an internet map. You can also keep track of your CoPilot friends, live on-screen in CoPilot!
    • Live weather info for your location/destination
    • Facebook status updates: share your location, destination and what you are listening to

    Right, so now for the cool part :) I have 3 copies of the CoPilot South Africa app worth $54.99 to give away. To enter the competition, you need to do one of the following:

    a) Retweet this post using the retweet button on the top right of this post.
    b) Comment on the post using the comments below.
    c) Write a blog post about the launch of CoPilot, and by linking back to this post you will be entered.This will gain you an extra 5 entries to the competition :)

    The competition closes on Monday the 24th May 2010 at 12pm. The draw will be a random draw using Random.org. Good luck :)