Category: tech

Posted on

iPhone Folder Icons

Apple’s iOS4 introduced folders to the iPhone. By dragging an app onto another one, either on the iPhone or in iTunes, a folder is created with a suggested, editable name.

Many of us have done just that. In my case, I kept my most-used apps on the first Home Screen and organised the apps into folders on the second screen, thereby reducing the number of screens from 12 to 2!

Then, this morning, I noticed a tweet from Don McAllister (@donmcallister) who pointed out this page about how to name folders with icons instead of text.

I started playing around with it, firstly by creating an Apple folder, then by attempting to use icons for all my folders. “Flying”, “Travel” and “Games” were easy, but I struggled with “Sailing”, “Photography” and others. Then I remembered I had installed Spell Number on my iPhone which enables emoji icons.

A few minutes’ later I’d created this. Whether I stick with it is another matter…

(Click to enlarge)

iPhone 4 folders
iPhone 4 folders

Posted on

O2 micro sim Activation

iPhone 4
iPhone 4

I had a faff activating the micro sim in the Apple iPhone 4. The O2 page talks about activating the phone and activating the sim card and I confused the two.

After leaving the iPhone overnight with a screen message “Waiting for activation, this may take some time”, I realised I had to complete the O2 Sim Swap page as well. Three hours later it still hadn’t activated. So I removed and reinserted the sim in my iPhone 3GS which immediately came up with no service (deactivated successfully) then inserted the micro sim in the iPhone 4 which immediately activated.

Hope this helps someone else.

Posted on

iPhone 4 Pre-Orders

iPhone 4
iPhone 4

Apple’s new iPhone 4 will be released on 24 June and it can be pre-ordered from tomorrow, 15 June. We still don’t know the UK pricing although the UK carriers have released their new dataplans. Based on the iPad dataplans I’m hoping that three will be competitive in which case I might switch to them from O2.

Rumours are that the iPhone 4 prices will be announced today.

Posted on

What Every New iPad Owner Should Know

A-Frame
A-Frame

With the international iPad arriving soon, here are some things I’ve learned about the iPad over the last few weeks:

  1. The battery life is great. It will last all day and maybe two days.

  2. It needs a 2.1 amp charger as opposed to the 1 amp of the iPhone so your iPhone chargers won’t work. New iPad/iPhone chargers are now available which pump out the higher amperage. Most USB hubs don’t produce 2.1 amps so you’ll need to connect the iPad dock to a USB port on your computer or plug it into the wall.

  3. iPhone apps look horrible. The good news is most apps have already been updated.

  4. You can leave your laptop at home. Unless you’re editing video or doing some other heavy-duty project everything you need is on the iPad.

  5. iBooks are great and are in epub format, but if you buy your ebooks from Apple they will have Apple’s Fairplay DRM (digital rights management) embedded. So if you want to future-proof your ebooks buy them in Adobe Digital Editions epub format and remove the DRM so you can read the ebook on any device. Once the ebook is DRM-free, Calibre is a great program for converting ebooks from one format to another.

Business Card Holder
Business Card Holder
  1. You’ll soon discover that you need a few stands around the house to prop up the iPad. Griffin Technology make a great stand (see above), the A-Frame, but at $50 you won’t want more than one. Cheaper solution are (a) a business card holder like this one from Office Depot, only $0.69 so buy half a dozen and spread them around and (b) plate holders like this one.
Plate Holder
Plate Holder
  1. You’ll also need a case. I’ve got a Belkin Vue Sleeve at the moment but I’m planning to get the Marware Eco-Vue when I can get my hands on one.
Marware Eco-Vue
Marware Eco-Vue
  1. The 3G version also has a GPS.
Huawei E5830 MiFi
Huawei E5830 MiFi

  1. The UK data plans aren’t great. Consider buying a MiFi which creates a WiFi bubble wherever you are. I use a Huawei E5830 from three.co.uk and I pay £15 a month for 5 GB of data. There’s also this one which I believe comes already unlocked.

  2. Essential apps: Evernote, Dropbox, 1Password, GoodReader

  3. Not essential, but great apps: PCalc, WeatherBug Elite, NYT Editor’s Choice, The Guardian Eyewitness, NetNewsWire, Instapaper Pro, National Geographic World Atlas, OffMaps, London Tube, Star Walk, Urban Spoon, Epicurious, WunderRadio, Air Sharing HD, Print Central, AppAdvice, Kayak Flights.

Enjoy your new iPad!

[Update 27 May] Three have annouced the best iPad data plan by far: £15/month for 10GB, rolling monthly contract.

Posted on

Suzie Automatic iPad and MacBook Transfers

Canon 5D Mk II Decal on iPad
Canon 5D Mk II Decal on iPad

I found some great transfers (“decals” in American English) on the web and ordered this one. It’s a Canon 5D Mk II Mode Dial and it’s really easy to apply. It also comes off cleanly if you change your mind.

The decals come from Suzie Automatics and are listed on Etsy.com. The iPad ones are the same size as the MacBook/MacBook Pro versions as far as I can see. This one cost US$15 with $3 shipping and it arrived about four days after ordering.

Posted on

The iPad’s Here!

The iPad
The iPad

I picked up a trip to New York last week, four days after the Apple iPad was released. The SoHo Apple Store only had the 64GB models in stock – luckily that was the one I wanted. I also bought a second AC charger to keep in my travel bag, a Belkin case (they’d sold out of the Apple one) and a dock.

I’ve now had a few days to set it up and play with it. It is simply a wonderful machine. Reading on its LED screen is a joy, photographs look fantastic and there are already something like 2,500 iPad specific apps available. I imagine I’ll be carrying this more often than my MacBook Pro.

UK prices and release date haven’t been announced yet but the iPad is expected here by the end of April. The 3G and WiFi-only models should both be available then. I’ve obviously got the WiFi-only model, but despite the lack of GPS, it always seems to find my location. On the move I’ve got a Three MiFi to provide mobile internet access. Three are replacing it with an unlocked version this week which I plan to use overseas.

Here are some images and screenshots of some of my favourite apps:

Posted on

O2: Simplicity for iPhone 20

Are you an iPhone user with an O2 contract? Is your contract about to, or already, expired? You should consider switching to the O2 Simplicity for iPhone 20 contract.

I’ve paid £35 per month since the iPhone was released on the O2 network in the UK, receiving for that 500 minutes, 600 texts, unlimited data and the Visual Voicemail service. If you’re within one month of your contract expiring O2 will let you switch to the Simplicity for iPhone 20 contract. Your monthly fee will drop to £20 per month, it becomes a rolling 30 day contract, and your text allowance doubles to 1200. Everything else, data, voicemail etc. remains the same.

O2 are keeping this a bit secret. They’re not calling people as they approach the end of their contracts. The O2 Simplicity page says nothing about the iPhone and if you sign up online you won’t be on the special iPhone contract and you’ll lose your data allowance and visual voicemail. So if you want to make the switch make sure to call them and emphasise Simplicity for iPhone 20.

Thanks to Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline for pointing this out.

Posted on

Broadband Speeds

We’ve been back in the London flat for a few weeks and the broadband speeds have been variable. Over the weekend my trusty Netgear DG834G router was reporting a connection (to Zen Internet) of 5617 kbps but the broadband speedtester on thinkbroadband.com was reporting actual download speeds of only 1027 kbps i.e. only one meg. Time to try to get some improvement.

Searching through the thinkbroadband forums I soon came across references to kitz.co.uk, a site dedicated to ADSL and broadband. There I found this page which explains the different kinds of BT telephone sockets and how to disconnect the ring wire if you don’t need extension sockets in your property. I duly disconnected the orange ring wire and fired everything back up. The router connection speed jumped from 5617 to 6653 kbps but the speedtest result jumped up to over 4000 kbps! Quite an improvement!

Speedtest Results
Speedtest Results

I’ve now got a BT Broadband Accelerator on order, which may improve the speed even more, and, since I’m in a Virgin fibre optic area, I’m thinking about signing up to Virgin Media’s XXL 50Mb service.