App Review: Quota
Most people have heard of Consume by now, in fact we did a review of it when it first came out. It has become the industry standard usage app for the iOS. However Bjango has not updated it for sometime and is not natively iPad compatible, which is leading to a clunky and rather utilitarian UI.
However, there is now a new kid on the block. Quota (by SouthFreo) may be new, but it is sleek, sexy and worth a look.…
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Posted in All, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Reviews
iOS 5 – Backing up and restoring from iCloud
With iOS 5 just around the corner we thought we would take a detailed look at one of the main new features and get you all ready for the release. One of the key new features in iOS 5 is over the air (OTA) backups and restores to the new iCloud. But how does it work? What get’s backed up and what doesn’t? Carry on reading to find out.…
Read MoreTools for Procrastination and Lecture Survival – Part 1
I have decided to write this two-part article as a part protest and part laugh, so sit back, relax and enjoy!
This is a scene that every tertiary student is intimately familiar with… You’re sitting in seats that you could swear were designed by sadistic old men, hell bent on your discomfort. Staring blankly at a lecturer, who is rambling on about something you couldn’t care less about, not because the topic sucks exactly, but because they use words like um & anyway as if they were vowels and it makes your head hurt. You’re drawing pictures, doing assignments or thinking about the pretty girl (or cute guy) a few rows down.
However my fellow students, do not despair! The apple may have got us chucked out of Eden but it is our salvation! You pay $700 for each class that drives you insane, so why not enjoy it? Be it an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, they will save you, the only question is how? With so many apps and also the internet at our fingertips what should we do?…
Read MorePlease give a warm welcome to our new writers
As you may know, quite a few weeks ago we advertised for additional writers for the site. We had a number of fantastic applications and we’d like to say thanks to everyone that applied. Yet again it was quite humbling to see all the kind words that were written about the site within the applications, so thanks again.
In the end we decided to take on three more new writers, this was for three reasons, 1. we couldn’t decide between them and 2. the more writers we have means the more posts we have and 3. Allan and Andy have both left our writing team to peruse other ventures, leaving space for three.
Hit the ‘read more’ for an introduction to the three new writers.…
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Posted in All, Other News
We’re teaming up with Vonage to give away an iPad 2
To celebrate the launch of Vonage’s Time to Call app, we’re joining top kiwi tech blogs Geekzone and ben.geek.nz as well as dozens of international sites to each give away a shiny new 32GB WiFi iPad 2. Geekzone’s competition is running right now and we’ll be running our competition from 16th to 20th August, so check back then for the full details. In the meantime head on over to callsfromsmartphone.com to check out the full schedule for all the other competitions. We can’t wait to kick off the competition for the most exciting prize we’ve ever had to give away to one of our lucky readers, so we hope you’ll join us on August 16th.
UPDATE: Great News! The fantastic folks at Vonage have agreed to let us run the competition for New Zealand residents only and have agreed to us blocking international traffic. You may be thinking “wtf, you are blocking international traffic?!?” but we have to to keep the costs down. If we leave it open whilst the competition is running it could cost us a fortune. Anyway… head over to this post to check the competition out.
With much regret, we are having to cancel our involvement in this promotion. As this is a globally-promoted competition, the cost of receiving the international traffic that it would attract would cripple us financially. Apologies to all.…
Posted in All, Other News
App review: Time to Call by Vonage
You’d be forgiven for thinking that most of the innovation to be done in VOIP apps had already been done, but US-based Vonage has other ideas. A few days ago Vonage announced their new Time to Call app and to be completely honest I ignored the press release as my understanding of Vonage was that they were a US company providing services to US customers only. That’s not so with this app, which is a truly innovative VOIP solution that can be used in New Zealand and is a god-send in both terms of convenience and cost-of-use when travelling not just overseas but even within NZ.…
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Posted in All, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
The MobileMe-to-iCloud transition is now open for developers (Updated)
Several sites including 9to5Mac and MacRumors are reporting that a transition tool for developers is now available allowing MobileMe accounts to be converted to iCloud. Until now, developers have had to use a separate account to try out iCloud. The tool is apparently available now at me.com/move however I’ve not been able to confirm this as I have no current MobileMe account to test it with. Remember, this is for developers only so don’t go trying to use this tool unless you’re a paid-up member of Apple’s iOS developer program.
Update: You will also want to install Lion 10.7.2 beta and iCloud beta 6 before doing this otherwise you may get errors on your Mac when accessing your MobileMe account via email, calendars and contacts.…
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Posted in All, Other News
iOS 5 beta 5 now available with slightly messy OTA option
Apple has release beta 5 of iOS 5 to developers this morning which can be applied as either a full build or an OTA delta update. The OTA update for beta 4 was incredibly convenient, but it’s a different story for beta 5 as in order to begin the update you’ll need to head into the Settings menu and erase and reset all of the content on your device. Icky! There’s also a new iTunes 10.5 beta to go with it. Have fun!
(Thanks, Blair!)…
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Posted in All, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
iPad 2 case review: Booqpad Agenda
I recently got sent a couple of cases in the post that upon first look I just didn’t understand. The reason I didn’t understand is that they were an iPad 2 case with the addition of notepad and personally I just didn’t get why you would want a notepad when you had an iPad.
Well, keep reading to see my thoughts on the case and the interesting combination of old meets new……
Read MoreQuick first look: iCloud versions of iWork for iOS
Apple really are hard at work at the moment. Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and of course iCloud. With iCloud.com going live in beta form today Apple also saw fit to release beta versions of the iWork suite (Pages, Keynote and Numbers) for iOS to developers. Keep reading for a quick first look at the updated apps.…
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Posted in iPad, iPhone, Other News
Skype for iPad goes live (UPDATED: back again)
Wow… busy day! Skype for iPad has gone live in the last few minutes, giving those of you with an iPad 2 a shiny new app to get to grips with. We’ve not tried it yet, but why don’t you give it a go (iTunes link) and let us know what you think in the comments? Thanks to Paul for the heads-up who is totally on the ball today. You saw it here first, folks!
UPDATE: ….And it’s gone again. Skype tweeted earlier to say that it was release prematurely. D’oh!
UPDATE 2: It has now officially been released and is available in the app store here
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Read MoreNo aliases or ability to add additional mail account into iCloud mail?
Unless this is just a beta thing, there is no ability to add either aliases to your free @me.com email address under iCloud or add an additional POP mail account. In MobileMe, users could add aliases (additional @me.com addresses that all share the same inbox) and also add another account via POP3 (e.g. mail from your old ISP account). In the above screenshot of the preferences panel from iCloud mail, there was a ‘+’ button in MobileMe where the red square has been drawn.
You can see a screenshot of the MobileMe counterpart with the additional ‘+’ after the break. It’s possible that since this is a free service Apple have decided to cut out some of the whistles and bells, or it could just be that this is to be added at a later date. After all, this panel is kind of pointless unless you can actually add other accounts or aliases. What do you think?…
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Posted in All, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Other News
Annual iCloud storage prices confirmed (NZ$)
So it looks like Apple are all go with their iCloud releases today. First of all we had the release of iCloud.com to developers and now they have also released the pricing for extra storage.
iCloud will come with 5GB of free storage as standard and as you can see above you will be able to purchase an additional 10GB, 20GB or 50GB storage for an annual fee.…
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Posted in All, Other News
iCloud.com goes live (UPDATED: Screenshots!)
Apple have just flicked the switch on iCloud.com and as you can see from above you can now log in to the iCloud web service using your AppleID. Please note this is for developers only and is currently in beta.
Screen shots after the ‘read more’……
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Posted in All, Other News
Apple TV update adds Vimeo support
An Apple TV update is available this morning (iOS 4.3) that adds Vimeo support. The same update also adds the ability to buy and stream TV show episodes, but this feature is only available in the US. Still not got an Apple TV? The Apple Store NZ have refurbs for $145 again: get one. Enjoy!…
Read MoreApple triples the length of song previews on NZ iTunes store
Apple has rolled out ninety-second song previews on the iTunes Store here in New Zealand, along with several other territories including Australia, Canada and the UK. This triples the amount of a song you can listen to before buying and makes it far easier to get a feel for the complete track. Thirty seconds was never really enough and previews would often cut off just before the chorus, leaving you in doubt as to whether you actually like it or not. The change is live now and affects both iTunes for Mac / PC as well as the iTunes app on iOS devices. It follows the same change being made to the US iTunes store in December of last year.…
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Posted in All, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
From the forums: How to stop a thief turning off ‘Find my iPhone’
Today, we’re launching a new regular feature on the site: From the forums. Why? Because you guys are smart and awesome, and some of the things you discuss in the forums are front-page worthy. So every now and again, when a post catches our eye, we’re going to link to it from the front page. We’ll turn the comments off on the post, but if you’re registered with the site (and why wouldn’t you be?) you can carry on commenting within the actual forum post itself.
The first ‘From the forums’ post is a tip from reader AndrewNZ who has realised that there is a way to actually stop a thief from disabling Find my iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch). It’s incredibly simple but, I’m guessing like many of you, it never occurred to me before. Click here for the thread to check out the tip and be sure to join in the discussion. While you’re there, if you’ve never explored our forums before, this is the perfectly opportunity to acquaint yourself. Enjoy!…
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Posted in All, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
