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  • Santam Backtracks iPhone app – WHY ?

    Santam Backtracks iPhone app – WHY ?

    If you follow this blog regularly  you will notice I am a huge fan of South African developed iPhone apps for South African brands, and often feature them after finding out about them.

    But this one baffles me, and I honestly can’t figure out, why ? Why would, Santam, who are an insurance company (who indecently looks after my personal insurance) create an app that has absolutely nothing to do with insurance ?

    I only found out about the app after listening to a rather cheezy radio ad on my way to a meeting, and decided to look at the app and what it offers. I thought that maybe the ad was a front for their corporate app, but nope, it seems my insurance company has developed an app that allows you to add backtracks to your videos and just allows you to play a noise, which will “help you out of an awkward situation”

    Awkward…

    There are 2 buttons in the app, 1 which tells you that Santam is in fact a insurance provider, and the other to let you request a quote from them, just in case you didn’t really believe they were an insurance company…

    All I can think is that what happened with this app, is the top brass said (a common occurrence these days) “We NEED an APP !!” and the marketing team thought it would be a great idea to make a really great and fun-filled app !

    Seriously Santam, you might want to re-think this one ? Rather give me an app where I can view my policy, lodge a claim, view claim progresses, and get in touch with your team. That’s 4 buttons you can replace with the 4 you already have at the bottom of your app ?

    Unless I am seriously missing something ???

     

  • Zappy Apps – Zapiro wherever you go

    Zappy Apps – Zapiro wherever you go

    This is the first post by Waldo De Waal, who has offered to share some of his writing with us and is a journalist by trade. Waldo focuses primarily on Cars, Technology & Travel. He also sits on the panel that judges the South African Car of the year awards. So, expect some great content from Waldo in the next couple of months. Great to have you on board mate !

    Here’s something for South Africans with a sense of humour: Well-known cartoonist Zapiro recently introduced two apps for both iOS and Android. The apps feature the artist’s works in two versions: Zapiro-Toons offers a chance to enjoy the Zapiro’s latest cartoons; while Zapiro Annuals feature just that: A collection of 17 Zapiro Annuals. Both apps are universal, though the extra screen real estate of the iPad does make the experience more enjoyable.

    So, what are they like? The apps, we mean – not the cartoons (those are VERY good). Here goes:

    Zapiro-Toons (free)

    Zapiro-Toons – satire in your pocket.

    The app is gratis, which is always cool. It is only 5.2 MB in size, and will be ad supported. We say ‘will be’, because at the moment the app has a banner that invites would-be advertisers to support the app. No problem – we all need money, and app development isn’t always cheap.

    The load-screen features a strangely square cartoon of Zapiro himself, but the quality isn’t great. Certainly doesn’t look like much on the retina screen of the latest iPad. Once open, the app connects to the Internet to download content, which happens very quickly indeed. From there you get a mass of cartoons to swipe through. You can share via Facebook, Twitter and email, and you can also select a film strip view which allows you to scroll quickly through the cartoons.

    Image quality of the cartoons isn’t fantastic, but then again these aren’t pieces of art – they’re pieces of satire, so the line art doesn’t have to be 100% perfect in order for the message to come across. With that said, it does feel just a little low rent. Sure, you want to keep the bandwidth overhead down, but this low? On the iPhone things look much better though.

    Overall Zapiro-Toons is a great little time-waster. And in a country where there is always something to create good cartoons about, you’re sure never to be bored with this app on your phone!

    Zapiro Annuals (free + in-app purchase)

    As with the Toons app, Zapiro’s Annuals is also free to download. But the idea of giving away a bunch of annuals for free, sounded to good to be true to us. And so it was: Upon opening the app, the first thing the user has to do is a buy an annual ($9.99) each. We say ‘each’, but in reality the in-app store only offered Zapiro’s lates annual, But Will it Stand up in Court? More titles may be added later, but as things stand today, the options are limited to just one. As such is also isn’t clear whether the older annuals will be cheaper than this latest version, but then again, $9.99 isn’t THAT bad. A quick visit to Exclusive Books revealed that the same annual in paperback costs R146.00 – significantly more than the R90.00 or so that the iPad version works out to.

    The Annuals app feels more polished than the tools app, and works exceptionally well on the latest version of the iPad.

    In the end it is great to see the list of South African apps grow. And free stuff is always welcome! Unfortunately we’re not entirely convinced that the general populace will fork out $9.99 for each annual – especially since you can’t leave them in the bathroom for the next visitor to enjoy…

    [app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zapiro-toons/id565894403?mt=8″]

    [app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zapiro-annuals/id594416321?mt=8″]

     

  • ZABooks iPad App Launches in South Africa

    ZABooks iPad App Launches in South Africa

    Towards the end of last year I atteneded the annual Core Apple in Education Awards, which was held at Montecasino. At that event it was announced that the Core Group would be launching an iPad app in early 2013, which would allow access to a number of Textbooks for Primary & Secondary education.

    Well, today the official launch of the ZABooks iPad app (iTunes link – FREE) was held in Joburg. The app looks fantastic and comes with over 600 textbooks available for purchase at launch. The app is only available in the South African iTunes app store though :(

    You can register on the ZABooks website, and browse the wide variety of textbooks that will be available to purchase. Once you have paid for the textbook it will be available in the iPad app. You can also sketch & take notes in the app once the book has been downloaded.

    This is a fantastic initiative by Core, and it shows the way education is moving. I really think this will be a huge success, and can’t wait to see my kids using this ! There is also huge discounts available to schools who buy bulk licenses for the books !

    I also did a couple of comparisons with some of the books to see the prices compared to the print publishers, and there is sometimes up to a 50% difference ! As an example this book, Study & Master Mathematics Learner’s Book Grade 1,  for Grade 1 maths is R51.95 from the publisher (Cambridge University Press) and is R23.96 from ZABooks !

    From the Info Doc (Download the Full Info Doc)

    ZA Books is a digital book store and iPad app that provides South African schools access to curriculum- relevant textbooks, for use by their learners, straight on an iPad.

    The ZA Books store has partnered with top South African publishers to offer an online platform for a wide range of curriculum-approved, quality textbooks as well as popular books for learners’ reading pleasure. The ZA Books makes it possible to carry all your books on a single device. This app and an iPad is all a learner needs for the journey through their school career.

    ZA Books is brought to to you by Core Group. Core Group is the Value Added Distributor (VAD) for Apple in Sub-Saharan Africa and provides a full range of value added services to ensure support for the Apple product experience.

    Have you managed to download the app and purchase any books ? What do you think ? Leave a comment below !

  • Tecno Mobile N3 Android Smartphone

    Tecno Mobile N3 Android Smartphone

    I recently came across a rather interesting “gadget” in the form of the Tecno Mobile N3 Android Smartphone. You may have never heard of Tecno Mobile, but they are currently one of the fastest growing Mobile handset manfacturers in Africa, with Nigeria & Kenya leading the pack in terms of sales

    Tecno Mobile is based in China and has a range of over 30 different devices aimed at the entry level pre-paid market. What astounded me about the N3 Android (2.3.5) Smartphone, was that it really didn’t feel or perform like an entry level phone. And at a cost of under R1,000 the phone is a steal for an entry level smartphone device.

    The smartphone is quite unique in that it has a dual sim tray, which allows you to use 2 different sim cards. You can also select, through the software, which sim card should be used for your data transfer or which sim card should be used for voice calls. This is a great option given the fierce competition from cellular network providers these days

    The smartphone comes with built in 3G HSDPA, Built in FM Radio, Bluetooth & WiFi as well as fairly impressive 3.0MP camera. The phone comes pre installed with Android 2.3.5 which albeit a bit of an older version of the operating system, defenitley doesn’t disappoint. You have full access to the Google Play store which allows you to download over 500,000 apps. The phone comes pre-installed with a number of apps including Whatsapp, Facebook, Gmail, Office Doc viewer & Twitter amongst others.

     

    Tecno N3 Spec

    • 3.5 inch capacitive HVGA LCD touchscreen
    • Android v2.3.5 (Gingerbread) operating system
    • Full access to Google Play Store (over 500k apps and games available for download)
    • 3D games support (compatible with Talking Tom, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds etc)
    • 3.0MP camera (no autofocus, no LED flash)
    • GPRS/EDGE/3G HSDPA/Wi-Fi internet access
    • Up to 7.2Mbps download speeds on 3G networks
    • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with internet sharing feature (Wi-Fi hotspot)
    • Dual SIM card support
    • 800Mhz single-core processor
    • 256MB RAM
    • 512MB internal memory (free 8GB Tecno branded microSD card in the box)
    • External memory support (up to 32GB via microSD cards)
    • 3.5mm audio jack
    • Stereo FM radio and MP3 music player
    • Bluetooth v3.0 with Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
    • Integration with popular social networking and IM apps (WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Skype etc)
    • Preinstalled essential Google apps (Gmail, Search, Messenger, Talk, Google Plus and YouTube)
    • Microsoft Office document viewer (Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
    • PDF reader
    • Preloaded Android web browser and Opera Mini with excellent HTML support
    • 12+1 months warranty
    Having used the device for 2 weeks now, I am suitably impressed with the over quality & usability of the phone. The battery life has been amazing so far, and apart from having an issue trying to get whatsapp installed (How-To Fix Whatsapp on the Tecno Mobile N3 here) I haven’t had any major issues. This phone is well worth the price and I reckon it has huge potential in the entry level South African Smartphone market.

    If you are looking for an entry into the rapidly growing smartphone market, this is the ideal device for you ! The phone is being retailed at R999 and for more information on where to purchase the phone, you can visit http://www.tecnomobile.co.za or email [email protected]

    You can also not purchase the Tecno Mobile N3 phone through our partner site – GeekShop.co.za

  • Londolozi Launches 4 stunning iBooks

    Londolozi Launches 4 stunning iBooks

    A while back the guys from Londolozi Game Reserve got in touch with me asking about creating & launching their own iBooks for the Apple iBook Store. I pointed them in the right direction, and they came back to me last week letting me know they had finally completed the project and the books had been approved for sale.

    Today they are officially launching these 4 books, and I have to admit, they are awesome. They have captured the beauty of an amazing and world renowned Tsalala Lion Pride in the Lions of Londolozi. For me the highlight was the story behind the Londolozi Leopards, which Londolozi co-founder John Varty developed a relationship with the Mother Leopard in 1979 and has some amazing stories since. A MUST read !

    South Africa has some of the best game parks in the world, and just browsing through the Londolozi site, looks absolutely amazing ! One day :)

    The 4 books they have launched are:

    The Londolozi Journey – $9.99 – A story about how Londolozi became what it is today and some of the behind the scenes stuff we never hear about

    The Leopards of Londolozi – $9.99 – The story of the amazing Leopards and the history of this amazing “love affair” since 1979

    The Lions of Londolozi – $19.99 – How the world renowned Tsala Pride has captured the hearts (and cameras) of Londolozi visitors

    The Londolozi Cookbook – $16.99 – Londolozi is not only famous for the wildlife, but also some of their amazing food.  Executive Chef, Anna Ridgewell, and Londolozi Sous Chefs, Eric and Connie take you into their kitchen in this behind the scenes look of how the food is prepared and how to do it all yourself.

    I have had a peek through some of these books, and I can tell you they are stunning. The team from Londolozi have also offered a couple of promo codes for each book, which we will be giving away right here !

    All you need to do to enter is leave a comment or tweet about this post using the RaffleCopter form below and you will be entered into the draw. Competition ends Monday 17 December 2012 @ 5pm. A US iTunes account is needed to redeem the code

    a Rafflecopter giveaway