When to buy (and when not to buy) a new apple product.

Posted by nkbish0p at 15:19 0
One of my favourite things about apple products is that they tend to be released periodically and it is often predictable when a new model is due. For example, it is common knowledge that new iPods are generally released in September and new iPhones in July. However, many people do not realise this and I am often asked about rumours regarding updated products.

This is great if, like me you like to have a product as soon as it is released and would hate to see an updated version of your purchase released just after you had bought it, as can often happen with other devices such as mobile phones and music players.

At the link below, you will find the expected release dates of yet to be announced apple products and refreshed versions of current products. The information on this website is obviously prediction's only but I have found it to be very reliable and accurate. The site also lists rumours of what differences there may be between the current product and the upcoming update.

CLICK HERE TO SEE EXPECTED RELEASE DATES OF NEW APPLE PRODUCTS

Please leave a comment below if you find this information helpful!

APP HIGHLIGHT 3: Futbol24

Posted by nkbish0p at 15:03 2

If you are a regular reader of my "app highlight" feature, you may have noticed that every app that I have reviewed so far has been free and todays offering is not an exception. From my experience there are thousands of applications in the free section of the iOS app store that can often better their paid counterparts, but due to the vast number of free applications, it can be hard to wade through the terrible ones in order to find the hidden gems.

Todays app is a great download for anybody that is a fan of football. I was inspired to find this application as I am an avid follower of football, and was tired of frewquently refreshing the bbc sport homepage on my phone in order to see score updates in realtime for football matches.

Todays app highlight "futbol24" offers a feature that I have been looking for for quite a long time; the ability to send goal updates to your device as a push notification, in real time, as they occur, in a similar manner to how, around 5 years ago you were able to get sent notifications of goals to your non-smartphone as a text message. The real advantage of the service offered by Futbol24 is that it is completely free of charge.

When the app is opened it lists football matches from many leagues around the globe. A great feature of the app is that you can choose the games for which you would like notifications for, saving you from a barrage of notifications from games you have no interest in. Simply tap on a game, then tap "push" to enable notifications for that match.

For me it was important that the notifications be delivered quickly and accurately and I am pleased to report that whilst using the app over a WIFI connection, the push notifications were actually delivered before the score was updated on my home PC on the BBC website. This I found to be extremely impressive.

It is worth noting that the app classes itsef as a "betting guide" and allows you to make "forecasts". I had a brief attempt at finding out what this feature was, but could not figure it out and found the instructions of little help.

If you are looking for a great, free app to keep you updated with all the lastest football goals as they occur, I strongly recommend you try this app by downloading at the link below!

futbol24


If you have any suggestions for apps for me to review, please leave a comment below or contact me via twitter @nkbish0p. Have fun!

APP HIGHLIGHT 2: Google Translate

Posted by nkbish0p at 11:09 0



Back in 2008, I recall exactly what made me want to purchase my first iPhone. It was when I saw the first demonstration of the applications that would shortly be coming to the device with the upcoming ios2.0 update and I saw the "remote" app that allows you to control iTunes on a computer using your phone.

It was at this point that I realised what it was that made me want an iPhone. It was the idea that I could have a single device that could do literally anything I could ever want it to do; and whilst admittedly in practice I have used the remote app around three times in two and a half years, I have always had it on my device because I like the idea that it is there for me whenever i could care to use it.

The same could be said of the focus of this app highlight: "google translate". Although in practice it is obvious that this app will be used rarely by me personally as soon as I saw it available on the app store I just had to have it.

For those unaware of what this app is or what it does, google translate literally translates between different languages. The beauty of this app however is that it has voice recognition, you can speak into the device and it converts what you are saying into a choice of 57 different languages.

The wealth and quality of services available from google these days is staggering and it is not surprising to see that google translate works well, as usual exceeding my expectations of voice recognition software. However, I must say that there are certain words that may not be recognised, maybe uncommon words or nouns, but it is notable that if you are having trouble getting the app to recognise a certain word you can type the word instead.

Although for me this app has pretty limited use, it may be ideal for foreign language students or frequent travellers, or as a cool thing to show off to demonstrate the capabilities of your phone.

Another nice touch is that this app is completely free, so you have nothing to lose by downloading it and trying it out at the link below. At the time of writing the app is also number one on the free app to 25 list so it is clear many people are doing exactly that.Enjoy!


ios version 4.3

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:50 0








With all signs pointing to an imminent software update for all iOS devices, I have compiled a list of what new features you can expect to gain from your device with the new version software iOS 4.3. As always iOS 4.3 will be free to download for anyone with a supported apple device.

Major updates

Airplay support for third party apps - Airplay lets you strem content such as audio and video from your device to another device over wifi such as your pc or tv. The ability to do this with third party apps is a great addition as it will users of apps such as VLC to share content without conversion

Personal hotspot feature - A feature for iPhone only that will allow you to connect other devices to your phone to allow them to share the phones 3g internet connection; great for using your laptop in an area with 3g coverage but no wifi.

Noteworthy minor updates:

  • UI updates and bug fixes
  • Parental controls for use with ping
  • New menu for scrubbing in videos (allows for more precise scrolling and scene selection)
  • Ability to cancel and delete an app in the process of it downloading from the app store
  • Ability to set the amount of times your phone rings for a text message
As always, if you wish to jailbreak or unlock avoid this update until further notice, anyone that does update early is welcome to post their opinions on the new features here





ios 4.2.1 jailbreak

Posted by nkbish0p at 18:37 0

To jailbreak the latest ios 4.2.1 firmware on any device, go to the link below, download the software for your operating system and follow the on screen instructions.

As usual, if you want to stay jailbroken, do not update to 4.3 when it is released sometime in the next few days.

Also note that at present no unlock is available for this firmware at the time of writing.



Update: I have successfully jailbroken two devices using this method on windows7 and macOSX without any problems. The instructions are easy to follow.

APP HIGHLIGHT 1 : Navfree UK & ROI

Posted by nkbish0p at 20:40 1 comments
Welcome to my first post of a new series entitled "app highlight". In this series I will aim to highlight certain iPhone applications that the reader may not have discovered that I think are worthy of a mention. Considering the app store now has more than a quarter of a million apps available to download, sometimes it can be hard to find some great apps that are hidden away.

Navfree UK & ROI

As it's name may suggest, Navfree is a free satellite navigation app for the iPhone that offers a great alternative to other applications such as TomTom and Navigon. Obviously the big draw to Navfree is it's cost, totally free! Considering the high prices of similar apps, this app has got to be worth a look for many people looking to find an app of this type before spending their hard earned cash.

It is worth a note also that there is also a version of Navfree for the US, great if you go there on holiday asn it saves spending a large sum of money on a competing app that you may only use for a couple of weeks.

It is worth noting that although the app itself is free, if the user wishes to also have the app highlight locations of "safety" (read "speed") cameras and alert the driver to their presence, this must be bught as an in app purchase costing a not unreasonable £1.79 in the UK market.

The app includes all the other standard "sat-nav" features such as turn by turn directions, voice guidance, auto re-routeing and also includes live google search as a bonus.

It is excellent to note that the maps are downloaded to your device, meaning you do not need an active internet connection to follow your route on-screen (similar to a dedicated sat-nav) saving you money and battery power. One downside to this is that the app is 257mb which may be considered large if you have a lot of music, videos or other content already on your device.

I am taking a trip this weekend in which I will be utilising this app, so expect an updated review shortly. In the meantime try this app yourself by visiting the following link:


Check back for more "app highlights" soon!

UPDATE #1

Having used this app to navigate a 4 hour drive over the weekend, I can safely say that compared to rival apps such as tomtom and Navigon, Navfree offers outstanding value with little to no difference in quality compared to its competitors. GPS reception was always strong and there were very few issues with the maps in the software and the directions issued. I highly recommend that users try this app before purchasing alternative software.

It may also be noted that battery consumption whilst using this app isn't as severe as it could have been with an hour of navigation using approximately 15-20% of the capacity of the battery of an iPhone 4.
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Can I jailbreak?

Posted by nkbish0p at 19:56 0
This depends on your device and your firmware. Not all devices on all firmwares can be jailbroken and you may have to wait for a jailbreak to become available.

If your device has firmware of 4.0.1 or below, it is very easy to jailbreak, and you don't even need a computer. Simply open safari on your device and go to the website "www.jailbreakme.com" and follow the onscreen instructions.

If your device is at firmware 4.1, it can also be jailbroken using Limera1n on mac osx or windows operating systems on your computer. Instructions can be found here

If your device is at firmware 4.2.1, the only jailbreak you can perform is tethered and you will need to connect your device to a computer whenever you wish to turn it on. I do not recommend jailbreaking your device in this instance and would instead advise you to wait for an alternative jailbreaking method.

If you have any interest in jailbreaking your device in the future, I would advise you not to update your iPhone firmware at any time until you know that the firmware you are updating to can be jailbroken. Remember also that if you update the firmware on a jailbroken phone your jailbreak will be lost.
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