Archive for category: Apple

SCS Software have released the popular PC game ‘Bus Driver’ for the Mac, and it’s available now on the Mac App Store.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never played the game on a Windows computer, but as the Mac App Store makes it so damn easy to buy and download games now, I bought the game on a whim a couple of days ago. Despite some initial p**s taking from my girlfriend, I started playing the game – whilst I should have been working of course. My verdict = strangely addictive! So much so, I have not achieved any of my work goals this week, as I have spent far too much of my time driving a bus……

I’ve never been interested in driving a bus in real life, neither have I ever been – or ever will be – a bus spotter (yes, they do exist!), but playing this game is somewhat relaxing. Maybe I’m just a little strange?!

I used to play Grand Theft Auto a lot when I was younger (on the PS2), but I often found myself stealing a bus when I came along one, and driving it around the streets following all traffic regulations. I did this purely because it was more of a challenge than driving like a maniac, knocking people over, and smashing into everything in sight.

So, Bus Driver instantly appealed to me. There are so many racing games out there (and I enjoy them too!), but just as in my GTA playing days, it’s much more of a challenge to drive sensibly – especially when driving a double decker full of passengers around city streets.

The game works on all recent Macs, including those with integrated Intel graphics, and it performs well. I’m sure you have guessed by now that your job is to drive buses on various routes, picking up and dropping off passengers along the way. You gain points for following the rules of the road, and lose them for breaking those rules.

On top of this, you have to keep your paying passengers happy. Brake too hard, and they scream – and you lose points for distressing them. Leave any passengers at a bus stop and you are punished greatly with a large points reduction.

Routes vary from 3 minutes long, to the final ‘level’ that involves a 55 minute journey picking up your passengers and transporting them to the city airport. Below is a video of a 8 minute journey that I recorded as an example of the game;

IFRAME Embed for Youtube

Did you notice the passengers scream when I braked too strongly?!

In short, this is a very addictive game that is far more challenging than racing a car at 100mph round a track, the main challenge being to resist driving like a maniac!

I recommend you get this one for some great entertainment. Try not to let it disturb your work too much though… I’m off now to drive the number 56 to the airport….

GET BUS DRIVER NOW!

June 28, 2011 0 comments Read More

iCloud, IOS 5, and Mac OS X Lion: Apple Announce Details in 3 Hours!

I am fast becoming a bit of a technology geek…. or more specifically an Apple geek! As I now own a iPhone, iPad, and a MacBook Pro I am one of those crazy people who gets very excited as soon as Apple announce anything new.

Unfortunately, I have to leave for work in about an hours time so I am feeling very sad that I will miss the details emerge from the keynote speech from Steve Jobs et al.

It has been revealed by Apple they will be unveiling IOS 5 for the iPhone and iPad, along with the new operating system for the Mac (Lion). However, the most eagerly awaited news appears to be iCloud – the new music service from the company.

There are many opinions and rumours available on the Internet on what iCloud will be. At first, there were strong suggestions it was just a revamped version of MobileMe, however it now appears that iCloud may be more of a replacement for iTunes.

If rumours are correct, iCloud will scan your iTunes library and store your media files on it’s company servers, thus allowing you to stream your media on any Apple device WITHOUT having those files on your hard drive/phone. Of course, these are all unconfirmed reports.

There are other strong suggestions that you will no longer have to sync with your computer to ensure all your music and movies are transferred to your other devices as this will all be done wirelessly.

Automatic app updates are also a possibility, with all this happening in the background. This would be great as I find myself spending most of my life downloading and installing updates to the numerous applications I have on my Apple devices.

With regards to IOS 5 for iPhone and iPad, there is a strong possibility that a new and improved notification system will be announced. If it isn’t, expect a lot of criticism from Apple fans as we have been asking (almost begging) for this to be addressed for at least a couple of years now!

There also appears to be a lot of evidence pointing to a deep Twitter integration on the new IOS, including photo uploads.

Personally, I would LOVE to see the iPhone lock screen improved to be dynamic. I was playing with my mum’s Sony Ericssson Xperia the other day, and her lock screen has a dynamic weather app that looked brilliant (yes, I am obsessed with the weather as well as technology!). This would be a welcome inclusion with the new update… please Apple?!

The changes in the Mac operating system have been widely discussed, but the finished article would be great to see. There are runners that the OS will be released within a couple of weeks (June 14th I believe). Lion is said to take some of the features of the iPhone and iPad back to the Mac.. and some of these feature sound quite exciting.

Well, I am going to miss the live updates as I am a Flight Attendant and will be at 38,000ft until about 1am British Summer Time. You can bet I will be straight on the iPhone for the updates as soon as I land though!

On a side note, there is no mention from Apple of an impending iPhone 5 announcement… but you never know, right?

If anyone would like to keep me updated, feel free to post comments below and I will pick them up when I get out of work!

June 6, 2011 0 comments Read More

MACDefender: Bogus Security Program Affects Macs

I have a MacBook Pro and ever since the day I bought it I have been toying with the idea of buying some anti-virus software for it. So far I have resisted as I don’t want software using large amounts of my processor power defending against such a minimal threat.

Today though I have been reading a lot of news reports about the bogus security software named MACDefender and have thought about making a u-turn.

This software has been installed by many Mac owners after the creators used scareware tactics -completing a ‘fake’ scan on your computer and then asking for credit card details to pay for the software to clean up these non-existent problems.

Apparently, the bogus software has been opening up the browsers of unattended Macs on to porn sites, and this has led to owners believing that the fake viruses do exist on their machine, and paying for MACDefender to eliminate them.

So, a word of warning. Do not – under any circumstances – believe that any software program that you randomly come across is producing genuine scan results for you…. THEY ARE NEVER GENUINE.

You have got to take care of yourself online, so never agree to download a program without researching it first. If it is not a well known brand (such as Norton or Kaspersky) then treat it as suspect until you prove otherwise.

Never enter your admin password to allow a program to install unless you know exactly what it is. Following this advice should protect you. Macs are more secure than Windows machines, but they are not immune from malware and other threats. However, any program that needs access to protected files will ask for your admin password. Only enter this for trusted applications.

May 20, 2011 0 comments Read More

ThinkBook iPad App: The Best Note Taking App?

I have just downloaded and installed the new iPad note taking app, ThinkBook. Had to share this one with you, if you have an iPad, and take a lot of notes it is a must have.

Simply put, it’s genius. The app makes use of the iPad screen beautifully, even utilising swipe gestures to achieve some magnificent features. Every now and then I see an app that screams ‘this is what the iPad was made for’ or, ‘this is the way Apple should have done it’. ThinkBook fits perfectly into either one of these statements.

On first impressions, it looks like a standard note taking app. It’s well presented, clean, uncluttered, and professional looking. It’s not until you delve deeper that you see it’s true potential.

On the right hand of the screen you will see what the makers (bitolithic if you are wondering!) have called ‘the slider’. Forget copy and pasting, this is much easier and faster. To move text, simply swipe it from left to right on the right hand side of the screen (if that makes sense), and the text disappears into the slider. Move the slider to where you want to place the text and swipe the right hand side of the screen from right to left, and out pops the text exactly where you want it. If you want to simply delete the text, open the slider menu and select clear clipboard. Simple. There has never been an easier way to move notes around.

Swiping the left hand side of the screen has a different function. Once you write a note, you can place sub notes underneath it. To achieve this, write the note as normal, and then swipe it from left to right and it will be placed under the note above it. These notes then become collapsable, and allows brilliant and innovative organisation of notes.

This is taken from the Bitolithic’s description;

ThinkBook transforms your iPad into an organizational marvel. Create notebooks and outlines that live and breathe under your fingertips.Everyone can benefit from ThinkBook:

Keep class notes, add questions and todos then use ThinkBook’s unique ‘finder’ notes to make a dashboard showing unanswered questions and outstanding todos for each class.

Use ThinkBook to record meeting minutes and keep project notes. Plan your work by grouping todos into projects. Create dashboards showing you the next few todos for each active project.

Take notes from books you read, tag each section with the topics covered, search for those topics later.

ThinkBook adapts to YOU, not the other way around.

This is probably the best iPad productivity app that I have downloaded since I bought my trusty tablet a year ago. Once you get used to the way it works you’ll find it is incredibly easy to use. Don’t let the streamlined presentation fool you though as this app is brilliantly designed, and it has already become the only app I use to take notes. In fact, the rough outline for this very article was planned on ThinkBook!

Here is the video from Bitolithic;

IFRAME Embed for Youtube

May 12, 2011 6 comments Read More

Apple MacBook Pro (2011)

As little as 18 months ago, I was anti-Apple. Not in the sense that I hated the company, just that I found their products to be overpriced for what they are. Fast forward to the present day, and I now own a iPhone 3GS, iPad, and a brand spanking new MacBook Pro.

So, why the change of heart….

I always knew Macs were good. Even though I could never understand how to work my sister’s due to being a Windows user since Information Technology lessons at school introduced me to the world of computing. Coming from a poor family, I’d never had access to a computer before, so this was my first ever experience.

Just seeing how quickly my sister’s computer started compared to my middle-of-the-range but still fairly new laptop made me very envious. I – being a man – have always loved gadgets, and I was starting to get very jealous of that MacBook.

However, at that time I still refused to even look at the possibility of investing in one. I remember saying;

But why would you choose to pay an extra £600 just to get a computer that ran a bit faster, and looked a bit sexier?

I fully believed that my £400 laptop could do everything her MacBook could do (even if a little slower).

The tide started to turn when I bought myself a iPod Touch a few years ago. I was amazed at how amazing this little gadget was – especially after owning a £30 cheap Mp3 player previous to this. I used it all the time for checking email, and surfing the net when I couldn’t be bothered to wait for my increasingly sluggish Windows machine to boot up.

It was spring 2010 when I realised that an iPhone would be perfect for me. All the features of an iPod Touch, but I could also use it to check email etc when out and about. The fact it was a phone as well was – of course – an added bonus. My contract was up for renewal, and so I got the 3GS (about a month or two before the iPhone 4 was announced!).

Next came the iPad. When the Apple tablet was announced I couldn’t see a need for one. It remained this way for almost 6 months until I ‘played’ with one in the Apple Store. From that moment I knew I wanted one…. not needed one, just wanted one!

After slowly getting my girlfriend to agree that it was a good idea to spend £500 on one, I walked to the Apple Store and left 10 minutes later with one under my arm.

Finally, my new MacBook Pro was purchased about 7 weeks ago. I had recently sold some shares and had the money sitting in my bank, where it was due to stay. But, I always had a little nagging thought in my head that I wanted a computer that WORKED.

The day I decided to get one, was the day my girlfriend actually suggested I go and buy one. Once I’d recovered from the shock of those words coming out of her mouth I started reading everything I could on the performance of a machine that was going to cost me £1000.

Thankfully, I waited long enough to get my hands on the updated 2011 version. Three days after it’s release, I was in the Apple Store to spend £1000.

I have waited this long to post my review of this computer as I believe ANY computer works pretty fast out of the box, and so thought I would see how it performs after a couple of months of use. Trust me when I say this…. it is the best one thousand pounds I have ever spent.

For starters, it starts up really fast. To prove this I recorded a little video that shows it takes less than a minute from pressing the ‘on’ button, to having the web browser open and ready for use. If you are interested, here is that video;

I am fed up with Microsoft Windows. In my spare time I am an Internet Marketer… meaning I make money on the Internet. Using Windows cost me countless hours attempting to get my 2 year old computer to work, and time – as the old proverb goes – is money.

It was time I had a computer that allowed me to be more productive and waste less time waiting for Windows to respond to a simple command to open an application.

With my new MacBook Pro, I now have that. It loads fast, it opens applications fast, and it doesn’t give up on me when I ask it to do more than one thing. In simple terms, it WORKS. It’s for that reason that when anybody says to me;

How can you justify spending that much money on a computer?

I can reply truthfully;

Because it does what it’s supposed to do.

For anyone that is interested, I have the least powerful MacBook Pro model. It has a 13″ screen, 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with 3MB shared L3 cache (I’m not sure what all that means though!), and a 320GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive.

This machine is impressive, and I would definitely encourage anyone looking to be more productive to invest in one. It could be your best investment yet…..

April 26, 2011 2 comments Read More

ios 4.3 Causing iPhone Battery Drain?

In the last week or so my girlfriend’s iPhone 4 has suddenly started suffering from a very short battery life. A fully charged battery was suddenly lasting only 6-7 hrs with moderate usage (Facebook usage and a few calls).

To be honest, I thought she was making it up and was just simply using her phone more than previously. But, after constant nagging I started to research the problem. It seems she was right, and it is a legitimate complaint after all. The Apple support forum has a thread devoted to the same problem, and it’s a very active one – meaning (of course) that there are plenty of people with the same complaint. Many people’s iPhone batteries are not lasting long since the ios 4.3 update.

So, if your iPhone 4 battery is now draining too fast, here are some of the possible solutions which may (or may not) work for you;

Check Your Software is Updated

Not long after ios 4.3 was released, 4.3.1 was available. Plug your iPhone into iTunes and check the software is up to date. If it needs updating, do it. This may fix your problem.

Reboot Your Device

More often than not, problems are sorted by rebooting your iPhone. Do this by holding down the home button, and the on/off button simultaneously for about 10 seconds (until the screen goes black). Your phone should then reboot itself and this may solve your problem.

Mail Accounts

Go to ‘Settings —> Mail, Contacts, Calendars’ and scroll down to ‘Fetch New Data’. Go into this menu and ensure ‘Push’ is ‘Off’, and ‘Fetch’ is set to ‘Manually’.

This could also fix your problem.

Sign Out of iTunes Store Account

Other users have suggested that there is a bug with the iTunes store, and if you sign out of it your problem may be fixed.

Go to ‘Settings —> Store’. Click on your Apple ID and then select ‘Sign Out’.

Try these options one-by-one and see if they make a difference to your battery life. I will add more fixes as I see them. Alternatively, you can read the Apple Support Forum Thread.

Update: After experimenting with my girlfriend’s iPhone 4 I think I’ve sorted it by signing out of iTunes store account (4th option above). This is slightly annoying as now every time she wants to download anything from iTunes directly to phone, she will have to log in and then remember to sign out from the account again afterwards.

Hopefully Apple will provide a fix for this in the near future…..

April 13, 2011 2 comments Read More

SkyView iPhone App Review

Great, just as I was thinking I should really do a negative review of something (just in case people start to think someone is paying me to say all these positive things about their products…), I find something else that I really like and have to share with you.

This time around, it’s an iPhone app by the name of SkyView. See dramatic screenshot to the left!

What the hell is SkyView I hear you ask? It’s another augmented reality app that uses your iPhone’s camera to show what’s around you. In this particular app, you can see what’s above you.

As the name suggests, it allows you to view the sky…. or more specifically, the stars, planets, satellites and whatever else is floating around in that huge galaxy of ours. It costs just 59p so I downloaded it approximately 20 minutes ago just to have a go, as it was getting great reviews.

I’m glad I did, as I’ve just had a very fun, but very educational 20 minutes. I’ve never really been interested in our solar system – as my school science reports I stumbled upon the other day confirm – but it’s completely fascinating to see what’s up there.

From the screenshot you can see that I was pointing my phone at Saturn. The orange line shows the path it has taken, and it’s future route across the horizon.

Unfortunately, I could not actually see the planet with the naked eye, but it was strangely compelling to know it was there nonetheless. I did test the app with the location of the moon (that was visible without the app – if that makes sense), and it got it spot on, so I have no reason not to trust the accuracy of the SkyView iPhone App.

The only negative – and it’s not the app’s fault – is it uses the iPhone’s compass (and GPS). As you may be aware, there is often interference with the compass, and your phone asks you kindly to move your phone around in a figure of 8 to recalibrate. I had to do this on numerous occasions whilst using SkyView. In the privacy of my own home this is ok, but I may start to look a little odd if doing it out on the street. To be honest though, I guess I’d look crazy enough pointing my phone at the sky in the first place (like one of those mad people you see moving their phone slightly closer to the satellite in order to get a better phone signal – come on, you know you’ve seen this happen….).

To download the app, click here now. Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (4th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

April 11, 2011 1 comment Read More

Reviewed: The Ricky Gervais Show Podcast

If, like me, you were unfortunate to miss this free podcast from Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington you will be pleased to know you can download the entire ‘back catalogue’ via iTunes.

The bad news – it’s no longer a free download. But, £3.95 for up to 6 hours of quality content is not too much to ask for, is it?

As you probably guessed from my opening to this review, it’s a positive one. I may be biased having always been a Gervais fan – even before The Office in fact – but the guy is hilarious. Add that to Merchant’s intelligent comedy and Pilkington’s utter thickness (sorry Karl!), and the result is comedy in its greatest form.

There are not many things I listen to and laugh out loud (unless with someone else and laughing together). But, this podcast became a source of embarrasment for me when I chose to listen on a packed Bristol bus. I desperately tried to stop myself from laughing, but I simply couldn’t. I actually had to turn it off before everybody started to think I was a little bit crazy!!

Each half hour episode is filled with Gervais and Merchant ripping Pilkington apart. You will be amazed at some of the opinions and ideas that this guy has.

His classic views on evolution are excruiatingly funny. Karl believes that evolution has got it all wrong and that 78-year-old women should die with a baby inside them, thus solving the problem of ‘not being able to move in London’. As Ricky and Stephen point out, there is a major flaw in his plan – who is going to look after all these newborns. Surely evolution has got it right by allowing women to reproduce at an age where they are fit and healthy enough to develop their child into an adult? This is just one of many crackpot ideas that Karl has…..

Honestly, if you missed the free podcasts first time around, buy them now. They will have you in stiches, and that’s a promise!

Download direct from

July 19, 2009 0 comments Read More

Ipod Touch 3.0 Software Update: Waste of Money?

Well, I’ve just purchased, downloaded, and installed the new Ipod Touch software update. I’m going to be honest and say that I think it may have been a waste of money…..

I have a 2nd Gen Ipod Touch, but know others that had 1st Gen. The 2.0 software update was huge. Loads of new features and excting gadgets to play with. But, have Apple reached their peak?

The 3.0 update comes with several new features;

Buy movies, TV shows and audiobooks from iTunes via Wi-Fi, Stereo Bluetooth, Peer-to-Peer gaming, Landscape keyboard in Mail, Notes and Safari, Spotlight search – allowing you to search your entire iPod.Cut, copy, and paste from application to application

Not a great deal to get excited about, although the search function is pretty useful. You will find that your home screen now has a page to the left. Navigating to it opens up the search function (see right – I searched my iPod for Michael Jackson) and allows you to search for music, videos, notes, emails, contacts and applications. Very handy if you have a lot of stuff loaded onto it.

Other than that, not a lot in all honesty……

The update does stipulate that you can now sync notes between your iPod and your Mac or PC. I use a PC and don’t have any compatible software for this according to iTunes. It seems you have to own Microsoft Outlook, whereas I’m using Windows Mail.

For those of you that do have Outlook, I’m sure it’s a useful feature.

Shake to Shuffle

Another new feature is the ‘shake to shuffle’ option. If you get bored with the song you are listening too, simply shake your iPod and it will randomly select a new one for you. To be honest, I prefer to choose the song I listen too – but I’m sure there will be those of you that enjoy this feature.

The 3.0 update also offers some parental control, Safari improvements and new language support.

Ok, the update did not cost an arm and a leg. But it did cost me £5.99 – and I’m not sure it was money well spent. I could have downloaded ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson for less than that

What is your opinion on the 3.0 software update?

June 28, 2009 0 comments Read More

Search