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Tag: ITunes

  • 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″]

     

  • Press Reader iPhone & iPad app

    I came across this very cool iPhone & iPad app the other day called Press Reader (iTunes Link). The app allows you to download and subscribe to some of the top international newspaper & magazines from around the world.

    All of the above only cost $0.99 per copy, and are bought as in app purchases, whish means you would need credit in your iTunes account. This is a bargain in the case of Finweek & Sunday times., as these are well over the R7 mark.

    Some of the features of the app include:

    • Set up automated subscriptions to your favorite titles
    • Flip pages like you’re reading real publications
    • Pan, zoom or rotate pages, articles and photos and view in stunning clarity

    Reading these on the iPad or iPhone is awesome, and you get an exact copy, just without the horrible print all over your hands and reams of paper all over your lounge. You can also download editions of newspapers & magazines from over 94 countries worldwide.

    The app itself free, and is another must have to your iPad & iPhone app collection.

  • Garageband for the iPad Rocks !

    One of the announcement at the iPad 2 launch a few weeks ago was that Apple would be releasing 2 new Apple iPad apps, GarageBand & iMovie. I have used Mac GarageBand briefly on the Mac a few times, but never actually given it too much time. So I wasn’t in a rush to get the new iPad Garageband when it released on Friday, but after seeing a few tweets about how cool the app was, I decided to drop the measly $5 for the app. And what a good decision. Actually, I think I have probably used the app so much this weekend, I would have easily spent $50 for the app. Seriously :)

    GarageBand turns your iPad into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio — so you can make music anywhere you go. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play pianos, organs, guitars, drums, and basses on your iPad. They sound and play like their counterparts, but let you do things you could never do on a real instrument. Enjoy a full range of Smart Instruments that make you sound like a pro — even if you’ve never played a note before. Plug an electric guitar into your iPad and play through classic amps and stompbox effects. Use the built-in microphone or a guitar to record, or capture any performance. Then mix up to eight tracks to create a song you can share.

    As you can see from the app store description above, the app is full of features. The Smart Instruments for me is amazing. You select your type of instrument, (Piano, Guitar or Drums) and it almost teaches you about the instrument. You can then record your tune into a track, and mix it with other effects. I have always been a fan of drums, but never got round to playing them (apart from the pots in the kitchen & annoying my wife) and now with Garageband, it is so simple.

    I have been playing quite a bit, and put a few tracks together. I honestly have a bit of a dull ear when it comes to music, so this track below, self titled “House” might sound a bit out of sync, but you will see how simple it is to get something like this going. This track probably took me around half an hour to do with all the tweaking. To get it off the iPad, you can either email it, or send to iTunes. You can also save the files as a GarageBand file for the Mac & edit on the Mac afterwards.

    House Mix from Garageband iPad by MarcForrest

    If you own an iPad, I highly recommend you download GarageBand for the iPad from the iTunes store. At $5, it is a steal ! I am also thinking of putting up a few tutorials about how to use GarageBand and some of the features it offers.

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  • 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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  • Review: TomTom iPhone App & Car Kit

    Last week, I received a package from the good folk at TomTom South Africa. I had been wanting to test this app out for quite a while, as I had only heard good things about it, and after reviewing other iPhone GPS apps, I wanted to see how TomTom stacked up.

    The latest update to the (iTunes Link $59.99) app brings a much-anticipated feature called HD Traffic (In-App purchase $37.99 for 12 months or $5.99 for 1 month). This service allows you to see where there is traffic congestion on the map, in REAL time. I know for the guys who travel a bit during the day, this is a must have. If you have a route selected, the app will also then re-route you on the best route available, according to the traffic congestion.

    So, last week when I received my package, which consisted of a shiny new iPhone 4, and the TomTom car kit, I quickly unpacked it, and rushed off to the car to set it all up. The car kit is really simple to install, and has a great “suction mechanism”, which means that not once did I ever see the cradle bouncing up and down. The really cool thing about the car kit, is that is has a built-in Bluetooth hands free, which means no more talking and driving. Again, this was really simple to set up, as the cradle found the phone instantly, and paired the devices.Also built into the car kit is a GPS receiver, which extends your GPS signal when using the app. This is great and definitely helps with faster lock on when acquiring GPS signal on the iPhone.

    The TomTom app itself is also really simple to use, and the functionality of the app is fantastic. The navigational controls are large and also easy to use. The TomTom iPhone app also offers street name announcement, which means it tells you what road to turn into when driving to a location. This is an awesome feature, which is usually only found on much higher end models of the physical GPS units. The app also runs in the background when you exit the app, so you won’t lose your position when taking a call, or have to use another app.

    There are a couple of other features of the app, which I didn’t manage to use, that really make this app stand out above the rest. IQ Routes is a feature built into the app, which takes into various factors such as rush hour, traffic lights & even shopping crowds, when calculating your route. This means you will get to your destination faster, as it selects the best route. How cool is that !! Another great feature is called Map-Share which allows you to edit the map if there has been changes to the road etc. So if suddenly a road is closed or a boom gate is installed, you can pin point this on your map, which then gets uploaded to a central location, and is then shared with other users of the app. Crowdsourcing FTW !

    All in all, I have to admit, I was very impressed with the TomTom iPhone app. The app, which costs $59.99 in the , is well worth the price it comes at. At today’s exchange rate this works out to around R425, which lets be honest is WAY cheaper than any physical GPS unit, you will find on the market. Add in the HD traffic for a year and you look at just under $100 for full-blown GPS app. The maps also get updated fairly regularly, which is a bonus in the chaos of ever-changing street names in South Africa.

    The car kit, which can be bought at a number of stores, including Makro, Dion Wired & Cape Union Mart, retails for around R1,200. This may sound a bit high, but I can honestly say, that after using it for a week, it is well worth the price. For this you get a fully fledged iPhone cradle for your car with built-in GPS & Bluetooth functionality. I know that I will definitely be getting myself one of these for my car in the near future.

    Overall, the app & car kit are both great buys, and if you are looking for a quality South African iPhone GPS app, then TomTom is the way to go :)