MarcForrest.com

Tag: iPhone

  • 16 Apps for your new iPhone

    I have had a couple of people ask me recently what are the “essential” apps for getting your iPhone up and running. With over 100,000 apps in the app store at the moment, it is almost impossible to give an exact list. So what I wanted to do is give you my list of 16 essential (and cool) apps, which will help you fill up your first screen on your new iPhone.

    The first thing you need to do is open a US iTunes account. See my post on 5 iphone tips & tricks on how to do this from a country outside of the US. This is essential to getting the best apps on the market, as many developers do not sell their apps in the South African store. After you have opened a US iTunes account, be sure to get some credit, by buying an iTunes voucher. You shouldn’t need more than $15 to get the show on the road.

    (The links on the app names below all open iTunes links)

    Shazam – Free
    Every time you hear that song on the radio, and you don’t know what it is, use Shazam. Instantly identifies the artist and song title for you.

    Layar Reality Browser – Free
    If you have acquired a 3Gs, get this app. It allows you to see what is around you, using your GPS position. Going to become very useful in the future as augmented reality starts to get more popular

    Skype – Free
    Everybody knows about Skype.Free VoIP calls on the go. Simple, effective and easy to use.

    Dropbox – Free
    Keep your files in sync in the cloud, and access the on your phone. You can upload files on your computers at work or at home, and then access them on your phone.

    Evernote – Free
    Keep your notes synced and up to date on the go. You can also create Notes and take pictures on your phone and sync them back to your computers.

    Facebook – Free
    Everyone loves Facebook :) The latest update is super, and you can pretty much do everything on your iPhone that you can do on the website

    PicPosterous – Free
    Posterous is a fantastic site that allows you to automagically upload your photos to other services like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc. The app allows you to take pictures on the fly and then update them to these services.

    Wikipedia – Free
    The mobile interface for the ever popular Wikipedia site. Useful if you looking for info on something while on the go

    Doodle Jump – $0.99
    What would a new iPhone be without a game. The most addictive iPhone game of all time. Just get it. You won’t put it down

    Photoshop Mobile – Free
    Edit your photos on your phone. Very simple to use and has loads of cool feature.  You can also upload your edited photos to the photoshop.com site.

    TweetDeck – Free
    The best free twitter app. Also recently updated with some nifty features, and it syncs with your desktop Tweetdeck. Tweetie2 ($2.99) is also another great twitter app.

    News24 – Free
    The ultimate South African news site on your iPhone. You can also view news and storie from other 24.com platforms such as Fin24, Wheels24 and even has a function to view resturants closest to you.

    ZATV Guide – Free
    Keep up to date with your favorite tv programmes and whats showing today. You can also set your favorite channels for a quick glance

    CNN Mobile – $1.99
    Best app for international news on the go. The coolest feature of this app is that it offers live streaming for breaking news.

    Flickr – Free
    You can upload and view photos on your Flickr stream. You can also view your contacts pictures as well as comment on them with the app

    Ping! – $0.99
    A fantastic little app that allows you to “ping” another iPhone user, much like Blackberry Messenger. The app will send the other Ping! user a push notification to alert them to the message. There is also a free version available, which has limited functionality.

    So that’s my list, if anyone else has some suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. Who knows, we may just fill up the next screen :)

  • 10 tips to make your iPhone battery last longer

    Today we have a guest post by Kishyr Ramdial. Kish is an iPhone developer at immedia and is iPhone obsessed :)
    If you want to read up a bit more about Kish and his ways, be sure to check out his interview on izimvo.

    Let’s face it, the iPhone is a life changing device. Most of you either don’t know how you managed with out it, or wondered what you’d do if you were forced to use another device. But in all it’s glory, there’s one factor that we all, thoroughly, hate about this gifted device: the poor battery life.

    Or at least, what we perceive to be a poor batter life. We’ve all complained about it at some point but the thing is, it’s battery life is actually pretty decent. There, I said it! Think about it. This all-in-wonder device has four(!) radios built-in: GPS, GSM, 3G, and WiFi; a proximity sensor; a light-metre; an accelerometer; and 3GS users also have a digital compass. Woah. And all those apps to take advantage of each one of those awesome technologies.

    But that’s just not it. iPhone users also use their phone more than any other mobile device they’ve used before (not a scientific study but it’s pretty obvious). We’re constantly on our phones, tweeting, checking maps, replying to emails, browsing the web, listening to music and laughing while our phone makes farting noises.

    The sheer fact that we use this device more often means the battery life will inevitably reduce it capacity quicker, not because it’s got a poor battery inside it (well maybe that too).

    But if you’re caught in a situation where that gloomy red battery indicator is on the top-right of your screen indicating that you’re down to your last 20%, and you might need to make an emergency call, here a few tips to squeeze every single drop of power out of your phone:

    1. If you don’t have Wifi reception; turn Wifi off. (But if you do have Wifi reception, leave it on as 3G uses more battery power than Wifi does).
    2. Turn off 3G.
    3. Reduce your screen’s brightness.
    4. Turn off Push notifications. A significant drop in battery power happened when iPhone OS 3.0 was released. This is because the iPhone always maintains a single connection to the mothership’s server so that it can push alerts to your device.
    5. Turn off bluetooth.
    6. Turn off Location Services or stop using apps that require the A-GPS. Location based apps use the iPhone’s A-GPS technology to pin point your location. Apps can use three different technologies to get your location: Wifi geolocation; cellular triangulation; and the built-in GPS itself. Depending on the accuracy of location that the app requires, it can use any of the above technologies, or all three (like how Maps does).
    7. Use apps that don’t require the 3D graphics power of the phone’s graphics processor (like games).
    8. Set the phone’s auto-lock feature to 1 minute.
    9. Set your mail to manually check for new messages (instead of an periodic check or Push).
    10. Stop checking what the time is on the stand-by screen! You know you do it all the time. I’ve said it before: cell phones are the new pocket-watches! By constantly putting the display on and off, you are using precious battery power.

    Hope these tips help!

  • Navigon Mobile iPhone app

    Here is the official press release of the Navigon iPhone app. Stay tuned for a review (and maybe, maybe a little surprise ;)) coming soon…

    NAVIGON Launches First Professional GPS Navigation for iPhone in South Africa – App From Europe’s Fastest Growing GPS Company Now Available

    NAVIGON AG, Europe’s fastest growing GPS brand, today announced the availability of a South African version of its on-board navigation software in the iPhone App Store. The MobileNavigator transforms the iPhone into a complete navigation device with turn-by-turn voice directions and unique features such as adjustable audio-visual speed warnings, branded point of interest icons along the route, direct navigation to contacts saved in the address book, full integration of the iPod control and much more.

    JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 28 September 2009 — NAVIGON is a world-leading manufacturer of navigation solutions and the first top-tier provider to launch an iPhone navigation app for South Africa. The Germany-based company is a navigation expert across all platforms standing for high-quality GPS navigation on pocket PCs, PNDs and mobile phones. NAVIGON’s iPhone solution has already been extremely successful in Europe, North America and Australia. It quickly reached top positions in the local App Stores. The software features a very easy to use interface that is seamlessly integrated into the overall iPhone experience. It is packed with NAVIGON’s hallmark navigation features such as Speed Assistant providing audio warnings when exceeding speed limits to an adjustable degree, a handy Take Me Home button and sophisticated and elegant map views including branded POIs along the route. Taking advantage of the iPhone’s own functionalities, the app even allows navigating to contacts saved on the phone’s address book, to directly call the number of a point of interest such as a hotel or restaurant, share a location or destination with friends via email or listen to music from the iPod while navigating.

    The MobileNavigator transforms any iPhone 3G, equipped with at least Apple OS 3.0 operating system, or iPhone 3G S into a complete navigation device. After downloading the GPS application, the software and map data is saved directly on the device. This means that users don’t have to pay subscription fees or wait for map downloads during the navigation.

    “By making the MobileNavigator for the iPhone available for users in South Africa, we are taking another step towards the future market of GPS navigation on mobile phones,” said Gerhard Mayr, Vice President World-Wide Mobile Phone & New Markets of NAVIGON AG. “The combination of NAVIGON’s signature navigation features with typical functions from the iPhone creates an integrated and unique experience.”

    The NAVIGON solution sells for $99.99 and is equipped with maps of South Africa from NAVTEQ. It will be available for a promotional price of $74.99 until October 15.

    Key features of the NAVIGON MobileNavigator for the iPhone:

    • Speed Assistant with adjustable audio-visual warning.
    • Direct Access allows navigation to contacts saved in the iPhone’s address book.
    • Location Sharing. This feature makes it easier to meet-up with friends and acquaintances. Users can share their own location, an address or a point of interest such as a restaurant or museum with other people via email.
    • Route Planning. NAVIGON’s route planning function enables users to plan a route with different destinations ahead of a trip.
    • Call POI’s. The call POI function allows to directly call the number of a POI such as a restaurant or hotel by simply clicking on the number.
    • Seamless integration of the iPod control. Users can access the iPod functions while navigating. During voice announcements, the volume of the music smoothly fades out.
    • Automatic Day and Night Mode. Depending on the time and location, the map colors change for optimal display visibility at all times.
    • Branded POIs and POIs along the route
    • Take Me Home Button
    • 2D and 3D map view.
    • Automatic switch between portrait and landscape format.
    • Intelligent address entry.
    • Real signpost display.

    For more information and FAQs, please visit: www.navigon.com/iphone.

    You will also find NAVIGON on the following platforms:

    Twitter: www.twitter.com/NAVIGON_.
    YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NAVIGONcom
    Facebook: http://facebook.twi.bz/Ob

  • Weekly app review – 4 Oct

    Last week I started what I hope will become a weekly feature here, by reviewing a couple of the fantastic apps I have downloaded or used of the last week. With over 80000 apps available in the iTunes store, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be running out of apps soon :) So, here are 3 apps I found pretty useful this week.

    Bargain Bin – FREE (Opens iTunes Link)

    A cool little app that, for me, runs in the “background” on the iPhone. By background, I mean, this app pushes me a notification whenever a popular app lowers in price, in the iTunes store. So When an app developer decides to have a special on their app, they lower the price in the iTunes store, and Bargain Bin, then picks this up, and sends me a push notification with the new price. I have picked up loads of bargains this way from the iTunes store. You can also have a watchlist of specified apps, so if the price drops, it will send you a push notification as well, for that specific app. A cool little app all round, which is handy to save a few $’s as well.

    CNN Mobile – $1.99 (Opens iTunes Link)

    Don’t let the price put you off of this one. This is well worth the $1.99 you goint to shell out for this. CNN is world renowned for the breaking news that they report on daily. And now you can get this on your iPhone. The best part of this app is the LIVE streaming breaking news you can watch on your phone. On Friday, the 2016 Olympic city was being announced, and I tested out this app, by watching the announcment, live, right on my Phone. The quality was unbelivable. Another awesome feature of this app, is all the news you can take in. The stories can be read in a “cover flow” format, simialr to iTunes. You also get push notification alerts for Breaking News stories. At first I was a bit sceptical about buying this app, cause a lot of the reviews moaned about the ads, but I honestly don’t find them intrusive at all. All in all an awesome app, that I highly recommended.

    StreamToMe – $1.99 (Opens iTunes Link)

    Shhh, don’t tell anyone about this app. This is one AWESOME AWESOME app. We all know the iPhone & iTunes can be a pain when trying to watch video’s on the phone. What StreamToMe does, it automagically converts most video formats including, MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, MPG or WMV,  video/music you have stored on your local machine or external drive and plays it for you on your phone. You don’t have to convert anything to make it work, it converts the video as you watching. All you need is to have the Server software (http://projectswithlove.com/streamtome/servetome.html) running on your MAC, and the rest is 1 touch to watch your favourite series or movie on your phone while lying in Bed. A great, yet simple app all round.

  • Best Camera iPhone App

    Chase Jarvis is a world renowned photographer, who has one of the most awe inspiring portfolio’s I have ever seen, has released his own iPhone app, aptly called Best Camera (Opens iTunes). Why Best camera ? Cause as Chase says the “Best Camera is the one that’s with you”. At $2.99 on the App store this app is a Steal !!!

    The app has 14 different filters which can be applied to photos you have taken on your iPhone. Some of the cool filters include Warmify, which adds yellow tones, Jewel, a one Touch signature filter which creates rich textual looks. You can also one click crop to square, as well as add frames. Given 14 different filters you can make your photos look absolutely awesome :)

    Once you have finished applying the filters, you can upload to twitter, facebook or the specially developed community site for the app , http://www.thebestcamera.com/

    I have been playing around with it for the last day or so, and am blow away. Below are some of the images I have created using the BestCamera app: