Posts Tagged ‘iPhone’
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Apple has finally broke its silence on the matter. A spokeswoman for Apple, Natalie Harrison, acknowledges that a “small” number of customers have reported “lower-than-expected battery life on iOS 5 devices.
"The power-efficient A5 chip and iOS 5 deliver outstanding battery life," says Apple's website.
It’s interesting that she mentioned iOS5 devices, instead of specifically iPhone 4S, when referring to the customer complaints.
So the problem is not confined to just the newly launched and hugely popular iPhone 4S. It’s just that the 4S has been hogging the headlines.
She tells Bloomberg that “We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.”
Tags:Apple, iPhone, smartphone
Posted in Apple, Gadgets, iOS, iPhone, Phones, Software, Tech news | No Comments »
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Anybody up for an iPad 2 crusted with T-Rex bone, 24-carat gold and 12.5 carats of diamonds? Better hurry cos’ it’s already 50% sold out and it’s only going for — £5,000,000!
Only two will be made by British designer Stuart Hughes, and one has already been sold to an undisclosed customer, so hurry before you miss the purchase of a life time.
Stuart is well-known for a series of ‘ultra-luxury’ gadgets, which includes the world’s most expensive phone – a £5,000,000 gold and diamond encrusted iPhone; and a £219,000 Macbook Air that’s coated with 24-carat gold 53 diamonds.
Check out the original story by Rob Waugh of Daily Mail.
Tags:Apple, iOS, iPad, iPhone, MacBook, notebooks, smartphone, tablets
Posted in Apple, Gadgets, Humour, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Lifestyle, Mac OS, Notebooks, Phones, Prices, Tablets | No Comments »
Sunday, October 30th, 2011
TomTom App for iPhone 1.9 is now available and optimised for iPad, offering higher resolution and improved user interface for the iPad at no extra cost. The app for South East Asia is available now at US$69.99 but existing app customers download for free.
TomTom App for iPhone/iPad Version 1.9
First announced and show-cased during IFA 2011 in Berlin last month, Existing TomTom App customers can download the new version to their iPads for free.
The user interface has been enhanced to fit the larger screen of the iPad while the resolution has been increased for a sharper display. The new release is also compatible with Apple’s new iOS5.
The TomTom App for iPhone/iPad 1.9 comes with a new map release, which includes updated roads, more accurate information about fixed speed camera locations and points of interest.
The new release makes use of the extra iPad screen space by showing both driving view and advanced lane guidance at the same time. Drivers can also switch to driving view with one touch from anywhere within the app, and can access guidance options in a tap.
Tags:Apps, GPS, iOS 5, iPad, iPhone, navigation, TomTom
Posted in App, Gadgets, GPS, iOS, Launch, TomTom | No Comments »
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Western Digital launches a slew of media storage, networking and playback products for the connected lifestyle.
Western Digital My Book Live personal cloud storage
The premise of the Connected Life solution from Western Digital is the simple set-up of a private personal cloud where media can be accessed and shared from any computer at home.
This personal cloud can also be extended into the Internet so that mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers can also access data and media in the cloud using apps, while computers can use a browser interface.
The centrepiece of the Connected Life solution from Western Digital is the My Book Live network attached storage. With capacities ranging from 1TB to 3TB, these network capable external hard drives are connected directly to the wireless router at home so that any computer – be it a Mac or a PC – can store and access the media in the drive.
Western Digital WD TV Live streaming media player
The WD TV Live media player that is connected to the wireless network can then stream media from My Book Live and play photos, music and videos on a large TV screen. It can also stream media directly from Internet services such as YouTube.
Outside home, data and media on My Book Live can be accessed on mobile devices using WD apps WD 2go (free), WD 2go Pro (US$2.99), and WD Photos (free).
Tags:Android, cloud, drive, iOS, iPad, iPhone, media player, smartphone, tablets, Western Digital
Posted in Accessories, Android, Cloud, Events, Gadgets, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Launch, Media player, Phones, Prices, Specifications, storage drive, Tablets, Western Digital | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Tim Cook delivered his first major product launch since taking over from Steve Jobs as the CEO. The main anticipation for an iPhone 5 did not come through. Instead an iPhone 4S with changed out innards was offered. By the way, Steve Jobs was absent from the event
"Let's talk iPhone" launches iPhone 4S instead of iPhone 5
The headline for the launch was the iPhone 4S. Identical to the iPhone 4 in terms of external design and appearances, the innards have been completed changed out with much better components. These include a more powerful A5 dual-core CPU promising 2x the previous computing speed and 7x graphics performance, new 8 megapixel camera, full HD video, and iOS 5.
Other highlights inlcude Siri, the voice-activated intelligent assistant and iCloud, a set of cloud services that works and syncs with all the Apple devices a user owns.
New apps and iPod Touch and nano devices were also presented.
Here’s a quick executive summary of the various products launched, their prices (in the US and in Singapore), as well as when they would be available.
| Product / Availability |
Prices |
iPhone 4S
(black & white)
Oct 14:
US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan & UK
Oct 28:
22 countries including Singapore
Dec 2011:
Rest of the world |
US prices (w 2 yrs contract):
16GB: US$199
32GB: US$299
64GB: US$399
Singapore prices (incl GST):
iPhone 4S: TBA
iPhone 4: S$788
iPhone 3GS: S$548 |
Siri voice-activated intelligent assistant
Comes as Beta on iPhone 4S |
Free |
iOS 5
Available on Oct 12 |
Free software update via iTunes 10.5 |
Cards App
Available on Oct 12 |
US: US$2.99
Elsewhere: US$4.99 |
iCloud
Available on Oct 12 |
5GB: free
10GB: US$20/yr
20GB: US$40/yr
50GB: US$100/yr |
iPod nano
(black & white)
Available today |
US prices:
8GB: US$129
16GB: US$149
Singapore prices (incl GST):
8GB: S$180
16GB: S$208 |
iPad Touch
(black & white)
Available on Oct 12 |
US prices:
8GB: US$199
32GB: US$299
64GB: US$399
Singapore prices (incl GST):
8GB: S$288
32GB: S$428
64GB: S$588 |
Tags:Apple, iOS, iPhone, smartphone
Posted in App, Apple, Cloud, Events, Gadgets, iOS, iPhone, Launch, Phones, Prices, Specifications | No Comments »
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Pointpal is a nifty electronic wallet for managing loyalty programmes for consumers who want to enjoy benefits and freebies offered by participating vendors, without the hassle of carrying a multitude of loyalty cards and keeping track of the stamps and tokens associated with the individual cards.
Do you carry a two-inch thick credit card wallet specially to hold all the different loyalty cards and discount cards that you’ve signed up over time with different F&B outlets or boutiques? Some of these offer one free drink for every three drinks purchased or give a free massage for every eight sessions.
Most of the time, the number of purchases are indicated by stamps on the loyalty card. Accumulate the requisite number of stamps and you surrender the card to the bartender for that free cocktail.
Buy X to get Y free.
A new FREE app has been launched for the iPhone that promises to take the hassle out of participating in these loyalty programmes. Apps for Android and BlackBerry smartphones are in the works. Pointpal has already been launched in Australia.
Scan the QR code to join a new loyalty programme
The entire programme is based on the use of QR codes. Participating vendors will display these 2D barcodes on their advertisements and in their compound so that interested customers who have installed the Pointpal app on their iPhones can scan the QR code to sign up for the loyalty programme for that vendor.
This removes the hassle of filling in paper application forms for each loyalty programme you sign up. You only need to enter some basic details once when you first download and install the Pointpal app. After that, simply scan the vendor’s QR code to join.
After every relevant purchase at a participating outlet, you can key in the purchase and let the cashier or bartender verify the purchases by scanning his special QR code. Once you have accumulated enough purchases, show the app to the cashier redeem rewards and freebies. Again, the cashier or bartender will scan his special QR code to acknowledge redemption and then hand over that free drink or merchandise.
Even if the phone is lost, the records of the purchases with the various vendors are available in Pointpal’s cloud storage.
No more lugging around a fat loyalty card wallet, or looking for that elusive card just to get it stamped or to check number of stamps.
Initial participating vendors include Barcode Cocktail Bar, Nail Vibe, and Wine Universe. More can be found here.
Tags:Apps, iPhone, Pointpal
Posted in App, iPhone, Launch | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2011
GoFlex Home is a consumer network attached storage (NAS) hard drive for the home. Easy to set up and use, it allows the access, sharing, streaming, and backup of files and media for computers, network TVs, media players and game consoles connected to the home wireless network.
The Seagate GoFlex Home comprises a drive dock and a hard drive.
Secure access can also be opened to computers and iOS/Android tablets and smartphones over the Internet.
Over the weekend, I helped my friend set up an NAS drive for his desktop, netbook, two laptops, iPhone and Android tablet. He had bought the Seagate GoFlex Home 3 TB storage drive during the recent COMEX 2011 but hadn’t had the time to set it up yet.
I helped by using eye-power because he decided to give it a go himself and actually got the thing working in less than 15 minutes. That was the reason why I recommended the drive in the first place, it works with most consumer home Wi-Fi routers with little set-up or configuration needed.
The GoFlex Home comes with two cables and an software installation CD. The following steps were all that was needed to get the personal storage cloud going:
1. Connect the GoFlex Home drive dock to the Wi-Fi router by using the provided Ethernet cable.
2. Pop the GoFlex hard drive into the GoFlex drive dock and plug the power supply into the drive dock and the wall outlet. Switch on the GoFlex Home by pressing the Power button on the drive dock.
3. Pop the CD (or download from Seagate’s website) into the computer (can be a Mac or Windows PC) to install the software needed to access the hard drive. Simply select a language, key in the product information found on the drive, give the drive a name and register it. The name has to be unique globally since it will be used to identify the drive should you access it from the Internet.
4. Install the software on other computers that require access to the shared drive. Up to 5 people/computers on the home network can access the GoFlex Home. By paying to subscribe to the Seagate Share Pro, you get access for an unlimited number of people/computers to the GoFlex Home.
There are three ways to access the drive. One is to use the installed Seagate Dashboard software (on Windows PCs), which allows all features of the drive to be configured and managed. You can add computers and user accounts, backup, access and share files as well.
Use Seagate Dashboard software to configure and manage GoFelx Home
The other way is to use a browser-based Seagate Share either for a computer in the home network or out in the Internet.
Free iOS/Android app
Both are easy to use with a simple interface, using drag-and-drop or standard dialog boxes we’re familar with.
The third method is via the appropriate free app on a iOS/Android smartphone or tablet, also over the Internet.
The GoFlex Home comes with a USB port which is very useful. You can connect an additional external hard drive to expand the capacity of the original GoFlex hard drive. You can also connect a USB hub for connecting more than one USB device.
In my friend’s case, he connected his printer to the USB port and all his computers on the Wi-Fi network got to share that printer. 
No more plugging/unplugging the old printer from one computer to another.
The included backup software allows up to three connected computers to be automatically backed up to the GoFlex Home. Upgrade to Premium Backup ($49.95) to back up an unlimited 
number of computers on the GoFlex Home network. You can upgrade at the Application Store that can be accessed through the Seagate Dashboard software.
For each user account set up on the GoFlex Home, three folders are created – a Public, Personal, and Backup folder. The Public folder holds files that can be stored and accessed by everyone on your home network. The Personal and Backup folders can only be accessed by the the user.
What I like about the sharing is the granular control available for the files shared. You can specify who you want to share files with, choose to share just certain files or entire folders, set passwords, and set expiry dates for the shares. Administration is intuitive and easy to pick up. You can send a URL of a shared file via email.
Stream media to other computers and media players on the home wireless network.
Music, photos and video can also be shared and streamed to media players, game consoles or network TVs that support UPnP-AV, DLNA or Windows Media Connect. A wide range of file types are supported.
The GoFlex Home is available in 1TB (S$179), 2TB (S$239) and 3TB (S$339) capacities.
Tags:Android, Apple, Google, iOS, iPad, iPhone, smartphone, tablets
Posted in Accessories, Android, App, Browser, Cloud, Desktops, Gadgets, Howtos, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Notebooks, Phones, Prices, Review, Seagate, Specifications, storage drive, Tablets, TV | 18 Comments »
Sunday, September 25th, 2011
Over time, as we get new computers and leave the old still-functional computer as a second or third machine, and we still utilise the different machines, the files we create and work on can get distributed amidst the hard disk drives of the various computers.
A shared network hard drive can bring order back to an increasingly chaotic situation.
A network attached external hard drive can share files and media (illustration modified from www.buffalotech.com)
The above scenario was what happened to some of my friends and me. Computers and laptops today can last for a long time (if you look after them well) and most often then not, they’re still perfectly functionable when we get a new machine so it seems quite a waste to get rid of the old machine, especially since it can serve as a back up.
And if a member of the family is on the new laptop, others can use the spare computer. So over time, working files, photos, music and video can get distributed over a few computers. At first, it’s easy to remember and keep track of which file is in which computer and do the occasional transfer using an USB thumbdrive.
But over time, as the number of files grow, things can get out of hand – the convenience of being able to work on a few computers turns into a bane.
Now that cloud computing is catching on and we can save files and media on the Internet, this mess can be ameliorated. But those personal and confidential files and humongous video files are still best kept in local storage.
The NAS solution
Schematic of an NAS solution
So over the weekend, I helped my friend rig a similar solution that I use at home – set up a simple external hard drive that can be shared and accessed by a few different computers at home over a local Wi-Fi network.
Those files that are stored on the network attached storage (NAS) drive can then remain accessible no matter which computer you’re working on. It can be used to back up the computers connected.
Some NAS drives allow you to stream media to TVs, media players and game consoles connected to the home network.
In fact, some even enable access to be opened out to the Internet, so that when you’re outstation – in the office, on the road, or overseas – you can still securely access the files stored in the hard drive. This can be done via a browser on a laptop connected to the Internet, or via an app on a smartphone or tablet.
It’s like setting up your personal cloud storage. There are many consumer NAS drives in the market from makers such as Seagate, Western Digital and Buffalo.
They’re all designed to be easily set up by the layman who does not have a PhD in computer science. These NAS drives are connected directly to the router rather than a specific computer acting as a file server.
Any computer connected to the network via the router can access the NAS drive at any time.
Because these NAS drives are more intelligent than the regular dumb external hard drive, they do cost a slight premium over the latter. The NAS drives can manage network access by computers on the network and implement security, access and rights control as well.
Seagate GoFlex Home comes in capacities of 1TB, 2TB and 3TB
Since I’m familiar with the Seagate GoFlex Home, that was what I recommended my friend, who brought home a 3 TB version from the recent COMEX 2011 for S$299.
Tomorrow we’ll see how he managed to tame his growing diaspora of media and files.
Tags:Android, Apple, Apps, drive, iOS, iPad, iPhone, smartphone, storage, tips
Posted in App, Howtos, Review, Seagate | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
The new iPad App was showcased at the TomTom exhibition stand during IFA 2011 in Berlin and will be available in Q4 2011.
“… we have optimised our TomTom App for the iPad. Now customers have one App for all iOS devices.” said Corinne Vigreux, Managing Director at TomTom.Customers who already have the iPhone version of the navigation app will be able to download the new version to their iPads for free.
This latest version will feature enhanced screen resolution, sharpened graphics and more intuitive controls specifically developed for the iPad.
Tags:Apple, Apps, iPad, iPhone, PND, TomTom
Posted in Accessories, App, Gadgets, GPS, iOS, iPad, iPhone, TomTom, Travel | 1 Comment »
Monday, September 12th, 2011
The latest version of the TomTom App for iPhone (Version 1.8) now includes the latest maps of countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and Indonesia. A new multi-stop routes driving feature is also included.
Use the iPhone as a Portable Navigation Device for turn-by-turn navigation.
The South East Asia, TomTom App for iPhone (Version 1.8) can be downloaded from the App Store for USD $69.99. It works with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS & iPod touch 3rd Gen running iOS4.
The new multi-stop routes feature makes it easier for drivers to make multiple stops on a single route, by letting them add up to five stop-off points when they plan their journey.
Multi-stop routes enable the driver to stop by a bank or petrol station enroute, or a diversion to pick up a friend as part of a longer journey.
This removes the hassle of entering a new journey for each leg of the trip and means that the driver can get an accurate estimated time of arrival for their final destination.
Tags:Apps, GPS, iOS, iPhone, PND, TomTom
Posted in App, Gadgets, GPS, iOS, iPhone, Phones, Prices, Software, Specifications, TomTom, Travel, Utility | 1 Comment »
