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  • A wrap-up of an amazing 2011

    Well 2011 has been an interesting year for me, a couple of things have changed, and all mostly in a good way. From a personal perspective, my biggest lesson was that, you should always do what you love. Follow your passion,and sometimes, taking a leap of faith, won’t hurt :) I decided to do wrap-up of my year. Be warned, it’s a pretty long read (1400 words) :)

    The site has done pretty well this year, with some fantastic exposure I received through various channels. So many new avenues have opened up, and I am really grateful for everything. This site, for me, is still purely a hobby, and even though there have been opportunities to take it full time, I prefer to keep it a hobby & a passion and try and keep people informed & entertained where I can.

    The 5 most popular posts this year are pretty interesting, and again, shows me what I need to keep blogging about :

    So, I decided to put together a quick roundup of the year (same as I did in 2010)

    January
    At the beginning of the year, I decided to set myself a couple of goals, called #Project2011 and with that I got sponsored a bike from the guys at Cannondale. The bike is amazing, and although I haven’t used it (properly) in a couple of months, I am hoping that in 2012 things are a’changing and I’ll be back in the Saddle. The actual project itself wasn’t a fail, and even though I slacked a bit over the last couple of months, I still managed to lose a couple of KG’s and feeling a lot better. So here’s to next year. 2012 -> Big Plans for my body !

    The good guys at Apple also launched the Mac App Store, which has proven to be a great success ! Locally, we got to see the launch of the iPad 1 in South Africa on the 27th of Jan, which although not as successful as the iPad 2, it still made waves around the country.

    February saw me do my first ever mini Triathlon, called the Mudman. A HUGE personal achievement for me. I also started doing Kettlebells with the team from Flux Motion, which I can honestly say, has changed my life. This is by far the MOST complete workout you can give your body, and showed the results throughout the year. If you haven’t tried it, you HAVE to. I also got to attend the U2 concert in Jozi, compliments of Highveld Stereo. AMAZING !

    One of the lowlights of my year, was being asked to remove a post that I did on Smokoo from my blog. At the time, I didn’t have much of a choice, but to remove it. In hindsight, I could have left it up, but, well, all over now :)

    In March myself and a friend started a little side business doing iPhone Repairs. FiXi is still booming, and we getting loads of requests to fix iPhones & iPad’s on a daily basis. 2012 holds some exciting opportunities for FiXi, so hold thumbs. I also got an amazing opportunity to learn how to trade some stocks on the stock exchange, thanks to the guys at Global Trader. Really great platform if you looking at learning all about that

    April saw my site getting a little infected by the Pharma Hack, which saw my traffic plummet, but I managed to fix that. We also got to see the awesome iPad2 launch in South Africa. By far one of my favorite “gadgets” for the year.

    May saw the introduction of the iPhoneography Showcase series on my site, which lead to amazing things later in the year. iPhoneography is growing at a rapid rate, and I am excited to see how it pans out in 2012. I also teamed up with the guys from Flux & Apple Tree Live for the next step in #Project2011, which saw some amazing results both physically & mentally !

    June saw Apple announce a whole whack of exciting new things at WWDC this year, with the launch of iOS5, Lion OS X & iCloud, our lives have changed quite a bit with everything now in sync in the cloud. Going to be very interesting to see where this goes !

    On a personal front, a HUGE change took place for me when I was offered the position of Mobile Product Manager at the Durban based company Private Property. For me, this was like a dream come true, and I could follow my passion of what I loved doing. And 6 months down the line, I can honestly say, I don’t regret 1 second of my decision. An amazing company. Seriously !!

    And to top it all off, I also launched the first ever South African iPhoneography exhibition. More on that in Sept’s round up :)

    July saw, THE most innovative South African company of 2011, FNB,  launch their iPhone/Android/Blackberry app. This app proved to be a pinnacle of app’s in South Africa, and has really gone from strength to strength.

    August saw the launch of our new version of the Private Property iPhone app. A nice facelift from the previous version, and some really cool things to come in 2012. Stay Tuned !!

    September saw the first ever South African iPhoneography exhibition, in partnership with Core, take place at the iStore in Sandton. This was probably my biggest personal achievement of 2011, and was an amazing success. I really hope to try and do another one in 2012, and given the amount of interest already shown, this is looking VERY likely.

    On the South African tech front, we say Alan Knott Craig from World of Avatar buy out MXit. An interesting move, and I for one, will be watching how this pans out. Every single time I have sat down at a table with anyone who is in the social/mobile/web/tech space in South Africa, this topic has been brought up. Interesting indeed

    I also managed to get my hands on what is probably my gadget of the year. The Olloclip. Really. If you have an iPhone, and take photos with it. Just get an Olloclip. An amazing accessory.

    October saw the worldwide launch of the iPhone 4S, which recently hit our shores. We also saw FNB launching a campaign bringing high end smartphone & tablet devices, like the iPad 2 at discounted rates, as well as an opportunity to buy them over a 24 month period. This has changed the tablet landscape in South Africa, and we now seeing more & more of these devices around. Awesome

    I also got to speak at my first ever public speaking gig. I was as nervous as all hell, but it was an amazing experience. I really really enjoyed it, and hopefully 2012 will see another 1 or 2 public speaking gigs. I also managed to attend to great conferences, Tech-Ed in Durbs & Tech4Africa in Joburg. Both really enlightening conferences, and I walked away with some insight into where we going in South African Tech

    One of my most commented posts of the year was my Blackberry vs. iPhone post, where I summed up a couple of the misconceptions people have about these 2 devices, specifically in South Africa. Some great debate around this !

    November saw me attending the Gary Player Invitational at Zimabli, compliments of Johnnie Walker. A fantastic weekend all around, and met some great people. I also launched the South African Mobile Apps Directory, which has shown some interesting insight into Mobile Apps in our country, and what is being developed where. I am constantly updating this list, so keep checking back.

    All in all 2011 has been an amazing year for me. I am really happy with where I am going with this, and honestly can’t wait to share my 2012 experiences with you. I wish you a blessed festive season, and want to thank every single person that has taken the time to visit my site, and be a part of it. I really appreciate the support !

    Catch you on the flipside :)

     

     

  • Buy iTunes music & movies in South Africa

    One of the more frequent questions I get through my site is, “How can I buy music from the iTunes store ?” Because the current South African iTunes store doesn’t allow you buy music, due to regulations in South Africa, you need to get a US iTunes account.

    Getting a US iTunes account is fairly quick & simple, and you need to follow a couple of easy steps to sign up for one. I have posted this before, specifically on how to get apps from the US iTunes store, but you can also use the account for music as well.

    You can download the step-by-step guide by simply tweeting about the guide, with a “pay-with-a-tweet” option

    Or, you can simply download the file directly from ->

    Once you have your account, you will need to top it up using vouchers. I have used a couple of providers in South Africa, and I can say, all of these below are great, and they all deliver the codes instantly

    If you have any issues signing up for the US iTunes account, you can leave a comment below, and I will try and help where I can.

  • Got me a shiny new iPhone 4s

    I was never really planning on picking up myself an iPhone 4s on launch day, but by sheer luck & coincidence I managed to get one delivered to me on launch day, last week Friday.

    So, if you did not know, if you have a Vodacom contact that is older than 13 months & you spend over an average of R800 a month, you qualify for what is known as a premature upgrade. And, because my contract is due for an upgrade in Feb, I managed to get one.

    First impressions about the phone:

    • The battery life seems to be a bit better. This could be, cause I started out as a new phone, and didn’t restore my old backup. This was also because I had a whole whack of apps on my old phone, which I didn’t use, so it was good to start fresh again.
    • The phone is definitely faster. I see it in most of the apps, and you can see it in the actual usage of the phone. Much better.
    • Siri is cool. I like it. It struggles a bit with the South African accent, but the cool thing with Siri is that it keeps learning your voice. So the more you use it, the better it gets.
    • Wireless Mirroring Airplay with the Apple TV is actually pretty cool. I managed to play Real Racing 2 on the TV, and works like a charm. I have been using this on the iPad 2 for a while, and they both work awesome. Another reason to get an Apple TV.
    • Generally it seems a bit better than the iPhone 4. If you in the market for an upgrade get it. If you have an iPhone 4, leave it, until you can get one :)

    A HUGE thanks to the guys at the Vodashop at Bridge City in Durbs. I have been using these guys for a while now, and seriously, they offer THE best service. Julias and his team are top notch !!!

    So, did you get an iPhone 4S ? What you think ? I’m pretty stoked, even after not expecting it.

  • Nando’s “Last Dictator Standing” ad goes viral

    I told you about Uncle Bob coming to visit me on Thursday, which is all part of the Nando’s Meal For 6 campaign that they started last week.

    Well the video, which is the core of the campaign, went HUGE massive over the weekend, with even Time Magazine picking up on it. The video has already had close on a total of 600,000 combined views, and featured on a whole lot of news sites.
    If you haven’t seen the video yet, check it out here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1EX–vdxh4)

    The video has also received great press from a couple of international publications:

    Once again, well done to Mike, Mel, Marc & the rest of of the team. Great, Great Job !!

  • Nando’s Meal for 6 campaign

    Earlier today I got a surprise visit from Uncle Bob, in the flesh. He gave me a top secret envelope containg a flashdrive and a voucher for a meal for 6 at Nandos.

    It all forms part of the latest Nando’s festive campaign, called Meal for 6,  where they asking, who would invite for your Meal for 6 ? From today till the 2nd of December, you can win daily prizes as well as a fully catered meal for you and 5 friends, with a personal chef.

    All you need to do is tweet the names of 5 people, living or dead, who you would want to have dinner with and include the hashtag #Mealfor6. These people don’t have to be on twitter, you can include anyone, just remember to include the hashtag.

    Also check out the video for the campaign which will be aired on TV over the next couple of weeks on the official website -> www.mealfor6.co.za. Brilliant !!