Tag: iOS

  • 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″]

     

  • iOS 4.3 now available for download

    2 days ahead of schedule Apple have (finally) released iOS 4.3 for iPhone & iPad. This is a biggie for me, as it now turns your iPhone into a fully fledged WiFi hotspot. This means I can now use the WiFi iPad anywhere, and don’t have to worry about internet not being available. Bonus.

    Here are some of the changes for iOS 4.3:

    • Personal Hotspot
      • Share iPhone 4 cellular data connection with up to 5 devices (combination of up to 3 Wi-Fi, 3 Bluetooth,and 1 USB)
    • iTunes Home Sharing
      • Play music, movies and TV shows from a shared iTunes library on a Mac or PC (requires iTunes 10.2)
    • New AirPlay features
      • Play videos from the Photos app including the Camera Roll album, iTunes previews, enabled third-party apps and websites on Apple TV
    • Faster Safari performance with Apple Nitro JavaScript
      engine
    • HD video out using the Apple Digital AV Adapter
      • View 720p HD videos from Videos app, iPod app, Photos, YouTube, Safari, Keynote, and enabled third-party apps on an HDMI display
    • New Settings
      • Messages setting for number of times to repeat an alert
    • iPad side switch setting to lock screen rotation or mute audio notifications and sound effects

    You can use these direct download links (Thanks @MikeCTZA) to get the files now without having to wait, and then you can manually update your iPhone  or iPad

    iPad
    http://appldnld.apple.com/iPhone4/04…0_Restore.ipsw
    Size: 625814678
    MD5: 9a889ba48bc2715292f199f50c70ed60

    iPhone 3GS
    http://appldnld.apple.com/iPhone4/04…0_Restore.ipsw
    Size: 443762287
    MD5: 87ebb9b2c025fb5f87a4cab0631b1547

    iPhone4
    http://appldnld.apple.com/iPhone4/04…0_Restore.ipsw
    Size: 702264955
    MD5: e0a463bded8f5b1e076b466535b18c75

    Source: http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/

    Looking forward to giving iOS 4.3 a run, and seeing how it works out.

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  • iPad 2 Launched

    Steve & his crew announced the release of the latest iPad this eve. The new iPad is quite a step up from the iPad 1, although, quite honestly, I am not overyly blown away.

    Amongst some of the new features that were launched in the iPad 2 are:

    • 1.2GHz dual-core Apple A5 processor
    • 33% thinner than the iPad 1
    • Two built-in cameras
    • Thinner and lighter than its predecessor, weighing 1.3 pounds and measuring 0.35 inches thick
    • Gyroscope
    • 10 hours of battery life
    • Choice between a black or white iPad.
    • Pricing stays the same
    • A nifty new cover has been announced which magnetizes to the frame of the iPad as well as keeps the screen clean

    And that’s about it. The new ipad will be available on the 11th March in the US and the 25th in 24 other countries, except South Africa. No date has been given for South Africa yet. Steve also announced that iOS 4.3 will be available on the 11th March, for both the iPhone & iPad, and you will be able to use new apps like GarageBand & iMovie on the iPad2.

    I can’t see myself rushing out to get an iPad2, but if someone is in the US and can get one, I will gladly take it as a new gadget. And let the kids an have the iPad 1 :)

    For more info about the new iPad and specs about it check out the Apple iPad site

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  • How to update your iPhone/iPad firmware manually

    I have had a few people ask me about updating firmware manually on the iPhone/iPad manually. A huge issue we have here in SA, is that because of our sometimes “dodgy internet connectivity”, we get disconnected quite often.

    If you are using iTunes to download the latest firmware, you will notice, that if you get disconnected, more often than not, you need to restart the download every time, which can become annoying as well as expensive

    So, I thought I would show you how to manually update your firmware, after downloading the update to your PC/Mac. I recommend a copy of Firefox, and this awesome download manager plug-in called Download Them All. This will help you download the actual firmware file from the Apple servers onto your PC/Mac and then update.

    To download the latest firmware(file extension is .ispw) directly from Apple, you can go to this page at iClarified (bookmark it), and then choose to download with Download Them All. This way, if your connection gets interrupted, you can continue your download from the same place it stopped.

    Once you have your file downloaded, open iTunes and plug your iPhone/iPad in. On your main info screen, you will see 2 options, Check for update  (which will download from Apple without a download manager, and break) or Restore.


    If you are on a PC, you need to hold the SHIFT button in, and click on the “Check For Update button”. If you are on a MAC, you need to hold the OPTION key and click on “Check For Update button”. You will then be asked to locate the file you downloaded (using Firefox and Download Them All), and chose that file. Once you have selected the file, iTunes will continue the installation as per normal.

    And that it is :)

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