iphone
AppleCare Review: A Worthwhile Investment Or Money Down The Drain?
November 16, 2011
For the uninitiated, AppleCare is an additional insurance option offered by Apple, that provides you with extra protection for your Macs, iPhone and iPad. Many people unfamiliar with Apple products may question why you’d need such a plan; after all, when you buy any other electronic item such as a TV, the likelihood of you taking out extra protection on it is minimal.
Maybe it’s the transparency of AppleCare that makes it such a tempting offer for many buyers. It can be quite comforting for someone buying an Apple product for the first time to be taken through the plan step by step by a genius in a brightly coloured t-shirt, and let’s face it, who can say no to a lovely genius in the Apple store?
Continue reading »iPhone 4S Review
November 1, 2011
If the blogosphere was to be believed in the build up to Apple’s new iPhone, I should be sitting down to review an incredibly thin new device right now. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. From afar, the iPhone 4S is indistinguishable from the iPhone 4. In fact, it’s indistinguishable up close as well, except for a slightly altered antenna around the edge of the device.
That doesn’t mean to say that this upgrade is insignificant, though. Far from it, in fact. Shipping with the brand new iOS 5 and improved internals, the 4S makes for a solid upgrade to what many consider to be the world’s best smartphone. If you’re thinking of making the jump yourself, read on to see what I make of Apple’s latest and greatest.
Continue reading »iOS 5 For iPhone Review
October 12, 2011
Two good things happened at Apple’s event earlier this month: firstly, we finally got to see the new iPhone which, although not as extravagant as the rumour mill would have had us believe, is a great jump from the previous iPhone thanks to the introduction of Siri in iOS 5. Secondly, we actually got a release date for iOS 5, and it will be landing on an iPhone near you today!
If you’re a little cautious about downloading new software before reading some reviews first, then worry not, because we’ve done all of the leg work for you!
Note: This review does not include ‘Siri’, the voice control software found on the new iPhone 4S. If you want to read about Siri, head over to our iPhone 4S review, and you will find all of our thoughts there.
Continue reading »Apple Quietly Launches Micro USB Adapter For iPhone To Comply With EU Regulations
October 5, 2011
It’s been a long time coming, but Apple has finally launched a micro USB adaptor for the iPhone to comply with european regulations.
The phrase ‘better late than never’ comes to mind, as the new adaptor made its way on to the UK Apple Store quietly following the release of the iPhone 4S at an event in Cupertino yesterday.
Continue reading »iOS 5 To Be Released For iPhone, iPad And iPod Touch On October 12th
October 4, 2011
It seems like we’ve waited ages for iOS 5 to eventually reach the ‘golden master’ stage, when in fact it’s only been 4 months since it was originally announced back at WWDC in June.
Fortunately for any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch users out there, iOS 5 has reached that milestone today, and it now has a firm release date of October 12th. Need a refresher on the features that you can look forward to in the new OS? We’ve got you covered!
Continue reading »Apple Announces Find My Friends App For iOS 5
October 4, 2011
Do you value your privacy? If you do, then you might want to look away sometime soon, as Apple has just announced a new feature which will be coming to iOS 5: Find My Friends.
All privacy jokes aside, Find My Friends looks like quite an interesting feature. If you’re meeting friends and want to find them, you can ask them to turn the feature on from their iPhone, and they will become visible on a map, enabling you to find them.
Continue reading »Apple Announces Cards App For iOS
October 4, 2011
We already saw what iOS 5 will have to offer in June, but at their event today, Apple announced an additional application for the upcoming operating system: Cards.
Cards is, essentially, a service which is similar to UK offerings such as moonpig.com, through which you can create and customise your own cards from your browser and then send them to the person of your choice.
Using the app, which will be a separate download to iOS 5, users will be able to create and (snail) mail cards to recipients straight from their iPhone. All of the cards can be customised with custom pictures and text from your iPhone, and will be printed on high quality paper before being sent.
Continue reading »UK Train Times For iPhone App Review
August 13, 2011
If you’re a regular commuter on Britain’s rail service, then it’s a no brainer to get a great app for your smartphone that can keep you up to date with the latest train departures and platform changes as they happen.
UK Train Times, although fairly pricey at £4.99, does what it says on the tin, providing departure times and helping you plan journeys. It also packs in a few more features that you won’t see on other applications available on the App Store, so let’s take a closer look!
Continue reading »Top 5 iPhone / iPod Speaker Dock Designs
August 4, 2011
Whether you’re the type that prefers to play in the ballpark of substance, rather than style, aesthetics will undoubtedly play some part in your choice of speakers. Of course, there will be iPod speakers out there that produce great quality audio, but lack the necessary attraction in the looks department. Sometimes, it may be preferable to opt for the opposite, and go for the looker. Or if you’ve got an annoyingly fat wallet, go for both. Here, I’ve compiled a short list of the very best looking iPhone and iPod speakers around, and of course, if you have your own suggestions, feel free to post in the comments section at the foot of the article.
Wunderlist (Cross-Platform To-Do List Application) Review
August 2, 2011
On the lookout for a new application to manage my to-do items after I decided that ‘Things‘ was priced ridiculously high for such an inherently basic app, I headed over to the Mac App Store and began scouting around. What I was confronted with was a host of apps priced well over and above what I was willing to pay, with very little justification for it. Then I was recommended Wunderlist. Not restricted to the Mac, instead being open to a wide range of the most popular platforms.
What I like most about Wunderlist is that unlike its pricey competitors, it won’t set you back a dime. On all platforms, including OS X, iOS, Android and Windows, it’s free to download from various sources. There’s no catch hidden away either, registration for use of the service is also as described. Free.
Continue reading »Great British Picnics iPhone App Review
July 10, 2011
Ah, the wonderful British summer. We get three months of it, and in that three months we’re probably lucky to get a week of sun, but we know better than to let a silly thing like the weather dampen our spirits! Summer picnics have long been a tradition in this wonderful country of ours, and although their popularity may have been on the decline in recent years, they’re still as fun as ever.
The Great British Picnics app for the iPhone aims to re-kindle our interest in summer picnics by making it easier to find great locations and give you lots of nifty tips and recipes within the application. It’s also free, which is always a big bonus.
Continue reading »Account Tracker iPhone & iPad App Review
May 12, 2011
If you’re like me, or the millions of other ordinary folk on this wonderfully rewarding planet of ours, then you need to keep a track of your finances. There are any number of tools about that can help you do this, some even provided by the banks, but I’ve been reluctant to take the plunge and spend a great deal of my hard-earned money on an all-inclusive finance management package just to keep track of a few outgoings here and there.
But, then I came across the Account Tracker iOS app, and on the face of it, it’s the ideal, simple solution for just noting down what you’re spending and producing a few forecasts here and there so I know how much to spend and save each month. Well, I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now so here’s the full review.
Continue reading »Instapaper vs Read It Later Review
April 26, 2011
When I’m quickly doing the rounds on the Interweb, I often stumble across articles that seem interesting at the time, but seldom have time to read them in full over breakfast or a quick coffee, for example. When I go back in the evening, I’ve more often than not forgotten all about it. Yes there are services such as Google Reader, and even Twitter, which allow you to ‘favourite’ such posts for later reading, but particularly in the case of the latter, it’s not exactly that ideal in any sense.
Enter Instapaper and Read it Later. Two, ultimately very similar, services which aim to put an aim to these woes of the web. But the question is, which should you choose?
Continue reading »White iPhone 4 Arrives At Vodafone? Release Date Imminent?
April 22, 2011
It’s been one hell of a ride for the white iPhone, from promises of release, to building your own white iPhone 4, to a New York student taking it upon himself to acquire, however illegally is neither here nor there, the necessary parts to make the transition manually, to delay after delay after delay. But now, it seems, the waiting is coming to a head, and the white iPhone 4 may have arrived at Vodafone right here in the UK.
There is still no certain release date, but we know now almost for sure that the inventories at Vodafone’s stores are now home to the infamously evasive device, after months and months of waiting.
Continue reading »How Microsoft Can Learn From Apple & Why Windows Phones Should Not Compete With iPhones & Androids
April 20, 2011
It’s easy to look back over the past couple of decades and pinpoint Microsoft’s Windows as the dominant force in the industry. So dominant, in fact, that at some point it is inevitable that most, if not all, of us have used a Windows-based machine. And if you’re currently on a PC, there’s a 90% chance you’re running Windows as we speak.
Whilst opinions are divided on the matter of quality, Mac OS X and the many Linux distributions pale in comparison to Windows when it comes to worldwide usage, yet the mobile industry strikes a stark contrast, with Apple, and a previously unthought of party in the form of Google, commanding a far greater presence than Microsoft, who has failed to impress repeatedly with its Windows Mobile operating systems in recent years.
Continue reading »Babbel iPhone App Review
April 3, 2011
If you’ve ever wanted to learn another language but don’t really know where to start, you may want to take a look at Babbel: an online service that teaches users a new language from a large number of options. Accompanying the website is the Babbel iPhone app, which is available for free from the App Store. Putting my language skills to the test, I decided to grab the app and see how I fared with a bit of español! Did the app help? Is it useful for someone looking to learn a new language? Let’s take a look!
Note: This is a review of the Babbel iPhone application, and does not include any of the additional features you can find on the Babbel website.
Continue reading »White iPhone Finally Arriving Spring 2011! But Will It Be An iPhone 4 Or 5?
March 14, 2011
A white iPhone. iPhone. White. It’s almost become a frustrating oxymoron that will never actually come to anything more than well, a promise unfulfilled given we never saw a white iPhone 4 in 2010 or even so far this year.
However, it finally looks as though the white iPhone could finally come to fruition and appear on shelves this Spring. And if my calculations are correct, it’s Spring now, so it’s arriving soon!
Continue reading »iOS 4.3 Update Released – New Features Include Personal Hotspot, iTunes Home Sharing & AirPlay
March 10, 2011
Even though it’s prior even to the US iPad launch, the software that’s coming with it is rolling out today. You can download iOS 4.3 for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch right now.
This, of course, brings some significant changes with it, most of which highlighted at Apple’s iPad 2 launch event last week.
For starters, we have the Personal Hotspot, a feature also known as wireless tethering that’s been on Android for a while now. This part is iPhone 4 only, and will allow you to connect up to 5 devices at a time, only a trio of which using the Wi-Fi, with the rest making use of Bluetooth and USB sharing.
Continue reading »RIM Could Bring BlackBerry Messenger To iPhone & Android Platforms – A Smart Move?
March 7, 2011
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has long been a key selling point of Blackberry smartphones such as the Torch (9800), especially amongst the fashion conscious younger generations. Facebook is riddled with the profiles of adolescents sporting the old BlackBerry PIN.
So, what with the rumours emerging recently? That RIM, the company behind the BlackBerry, is preparing to bring BBM to competing platforms which, it has to be said, have become a lot more successful in the smartphone market, there is a sense that it’s shooting itself in the foot a little.
Continue reading »Things For iPhone App Review
March 6, 2011
When I took a look at Things for Mac earlier this month, I thought it was the best to-do management application I’d ever used. It’s simple, looks good and makes me more productive. What more could you want? Well, actually there is one more thing: a mobile client for iPhone and iPad! As it just so happens, the team behind Things has given us just that. You can get the Things app for both iPhone and iPad separately from the App Store, so let’s take a closer look at Things for the iPhone!
Things for iPhone maintains all of the to-do functionality of the Mac application, making it simple to see what needs doing today and what to-dos you have planned for the future. From the main screen of the app, you can see all of your lists such as Today, Next, Scheduled and Someday, as well as all the groups that you have set up.
Continue reading »