Nic’s blog

I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.

Nic Haralambous Nic Haralambous

iPhone protectors without the iPhone

So we all know by now that I have an iPod Touch and I have done a few things to it to make it my own. One thing that I haven't done but that has happened is the scratches on the metallic part of the Touch.I am not pleased about this at all. I did what any Apple supporter would do, I went to the Apple shop yesterday and I asked them if they had any iPod Touch covers/protectors. Low and behold, they didn't.What they did have was the iPhone cover/protector. Let me ask a question: Why do they sell iPhone covers if there is no iPhone in SA?Then, my next and most obvious issues is that if you can get iPhone covers in to SA then why, OH WHY, can't you get iPod Touch covers in to SA?And lastly I have a suggestion for Apple for their next range of iPhones/Touches: The front of the Touch is made out of a "scratch proof" glass substance, why not make the entire iPhone/Touch out if this substance. Maybe keep the metallic back part but cover it in a thin layer of the "scratch proof" glass?

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Nic Haralambous Nic Haralambous

iPod Touch - The full review

Wow. So it's been about a week or so since Carly brought me back my iPod Touch from the UK (Thanks Shnitz). This thing is absolutely fantastically phenomenal.It is smaller in capacity than other available iPods - a max of 16gb are available. I decided to spend the cash and get the 16gb Touch. What a decision, worth every penny. The actual Touch itself is minute, measuring a whopping 8mm in width.The screen (you know, that touch thing) is amazing. In fact it is virtually impossible to scratch the screen, have a look:To be honest I didn't need a new iPod but I have had mine for almost four years now and felt that I deserved an upgrade. I am going to be going through some of the great things you can do with the iPod Touch. The things that I am going to chat about are the cool things that I like about the Touch, not what it can do, what I have missed or what I might have left out.touch_ui.jpgUser Interface (UI) - To start with the UI is a thing of beauty. The designers have done a sterling job to make the UI simple, fast, easy, visible, pretty, sleek and any other nice word you can think of. Add the touch ability of the iPod and combine it with this amazing UI and you have a winning combination.iCal syncing - This is definitely one of my favourite features of the Touch. I have synced my iCal and all my meetings on to my Touch and now will never miss a meeting. When an event is added to my iCal and my Touch is plugged in it automatically syncs with my iCal. When a calendar event pops up, you know about it. The Touch beeps and alerts you of the meeting, if you have set alerts to activate on iCal. I now have a mobile meeting diary.The only downside of the Calendar on the Touch is that you cannot add events in the Touch, it must be done in iCal.Address book - be sure to use your Touch as a backup address book incase you lose your phone. Simply add in as many contacts as you like, their emails, cellphone numbers, photos and names. Great little feature.Movies - I have yet to convert a movie in to an iPod format that will play. This is definitely one of the things that frustrates the most with the Touch (and many other iPods as i hear it). I have just downloaded the IMtoo iPod video/movie converter and will try that out later.itouch_youtube.jpgYouTube - Apple struck up some sort of a great deal with YouTube. YouTube is included as a feature on the Touch's main menu screen. Simply connect your wifi, tap the YouTube button and surf your way around the sites available videos. Flip the Touch so that it is horizontal and make use of the wide, crisp, crystal clear picture. Fantastic.itouch_photos.jpgPhotos - Mac users will be extremely chuffed with the Touch. Simply sync your Touch with iPhoto, choose the folder you want and sync away. Easy. Again, just as with the YouTube videos, flip your Touch horizontally to get the full effect of your photos and the wide, clear screen. Be sure to use your finger to "flick" through your long list of photos, or simply slowly guide your finger across the screen to slowly view the photos on the Touch.itouch_photos2.jpg

Music - Everything that any previous iPod has had is available on the Touch. But there is more. View your album art and flick through your entire music collection by flipping the Touch horizontally and perusing the album art. Tap to view the artist, tap again to view the songs, tap the song you want and bam, there it is, right in your ear.itouch_itunes_store.jpgItunes Store - I couldn't buy music as I needed an account with relevant information. I am not sure if you can use the iTunes store at all in SA, if you know let me know. What you can do is preview albums, hop on to your favourite cheap online store (or other method) and get the stuff you've heard at the Itunes store!Blogging - If you run a Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, iblog or any other blogging platform for that matter then blogging will be a breeze on the Touch. Just like blogging on any other computer, laptop, or device that has a built in browser, the Touch is simple. Just enter the admin panel of your blog, type away and hit publish and you are done. Simple, easy, effortless.Google - A google application is built in to the Safari browser. Simply double tap on the url address bar and the Google search bar pops up. Type in the word you are looking for and hit the search button. Done, dusted, simple, easy.Apps - Only recently have Apple decided that Apps are unavoidable and have opened up their list of must-have web apps. Visit www.apple.com/webapps for a full list. To use the apps simple visit the same url in your safari Touch browser and tap on the "view web app" option. Again, very simple.WiFi - Wow the wifi on the Touch is pretty simple if you aren't an idiot. I. Am. An. Idiot. I'll tell you why I am an idiot, because I insisted that I could not be dumb enough that I couldn't connect the Touch to the wifi. It could not have been me, it must have been a faulty product. Surely. No, not so much.After much deliberation, after much research and after much frustration, I figured out that I had entered the WEP password for my home wifi incorrectly. STUPID. So my little tip for Touch wifi, make sure you enter the passwords correctly whether at home or at a pay/free restaurant wifi hotspot. I am now connected to wifi and browsing is blissful.itouch_browsing.jpgiPod Touch browser - Apple has obviously chosen to use their Safari browser as the browser of choice for the Touch. This is without a doubt one of the best things that they could have done for the Touch. The browser looks good, it is smooth, it picks up wifi in the area and it offers multiple tabbed browsing. Without a doubt this is one of the coolest functions on offer for the entire Touch. I am so used to tabbed browsing via Firefox that going back to single window browsing is almost an impossibility.itouch_multiple_tabs.jpgIncredibly the Safari browser allows you to zoom in or out of any area, aspect or picture of any website that you browse. Mobile browsing as you know it is dead, no more simplified, basic, text websites. The Touch offers full browsing capabilities, full view of any website on the web. Some sites such as Facebook have created a compatible site for the iPhone and iTouch which makes browsing their site fantastic. Double tap here, zoom in, double tap there, zoom out, full picture download, full interactivity and anything else you could imagine!

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Nic Haralambous Nic Haralambous

The IPhone - Can It Make Calls?

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I think the IPhone is hot. So does everyone else. I have yet to read a post from any blogger talking about the basic functionality of this groundbreaking phone.Can this phone send a text message? Can I make a call and will it be crystal clear? If it can't do these two basic things properly then I don't want it.I mean that. I want to be able to do the basics incredibly easily with an almost 100% success rate before I know that I can teleport myself to planet Zookefrokenbakc and back with the IPhone.So I ask again, has anyone made a call or sent a text message using the IPhone?

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Nic Haralambous Nic Haralambous

Mac Tutorials Online

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I am a recent Mac user and some stuff just escapes me. I am sure that I am not alone.There is a way to discover the stuff that you just don't know and it is called Macinstruct. This site recently held a competition asking for people to create tutorials of things that they thought people should know about a Mac. The results are great and the tutorials are awesome.There are 38 tutorials available on the site covering topics that extend from copying DVDs to right clicking. The simple stuff, the Mac stuff and the stuff that pertains to Mac through various other programs and applications.Go on, give it a look, you know you want to. If you are a Mac user, I am interested to know what the most frustrating thing was when you began using your Mac?

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Nic Haralambous Nic Haralambous

IPhone IFever becomes an IFrenzy

I admire Apple on so many levels for so many different reasons. Lately It has been thanks to my MacBookPro that I admire Apple (I am converted).However right now it is the Iphone "IFrenzy" as I have coined it, that has me intrigued. Apple makes announcements but there is no need for them to. They simply need to fart and people like the aroma. The Iphone is set for release in the states very soon and this information has people in a tizz. Bloggers are blogging about it, techies are teching about it and laymen are wishing they knew what it could do.Here is a video to give you a bit of insight:Wow. But with a price tag of around $499 I think I'll give it a skip. In fact, I wont need to as it is unavailable in SA for the next, um, ever just about.Back to my fascination with Apple. I am sure they have had their ups and down as a company. Hell with Microsoft capturing a large majority of the industry Apple have done a sterling job but not without their fair share of stuff ups.What absolutely amazes me is that they cannot go wrong at the moment (last 3 or 4 years). They simply "let something leak" to the press and they are sitting pretty and riding the wave of rumours that extend throughout the blogging community world wide. Let's just be serious for a second here, they are so good at what they do that as a South African blogger with almost no access to the IPhone I am blogging about it and posting video footage about it. That is incredible.As a young businessman I am definitely trying to take a page out of the Apple book and learn from their unbelievable ability to whip up a media frenzy on a whim.

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