We all love it when our cellphone contract runs out, and we can finally go upgrade our phone. But what exactly is the things to look out for when it comes to choosing a cellphone? And how do you navigate the seemingly endless contract choices out there?

Chris Radley, MD of Nashua Mobile, offered us some great tips about the questions to ask:

Choosing the right tariff plan - 

Getting a free phone on the incorrect tariff plan can end up costing you more over the lifetime of the contract than getting the right tariff plan and the selecting the phone that you want.

• Start out by asking your service provider to help you analyse your usage of your current package to see if it is the right one for your needs. You’re wasting money if you have too few or too many minutes, data megabytes and SMS messages included in your tariff plan. Many dealers can do it right on the spot, like Nashua Mobile.
• How many minutes do you use in an average month? If you have a lot of free minutes left each month-end, it might make sense to downgrade to a cheaper package.  But if you exceed your monthly free minute allowance every month by a significant amount, you might be wise to upgrade to a package with more free minutes. (more…)

One of the biggest current buzzwords is the advent of NFC, which is slowly starting to creep into smartphones. The basic premise behind NFC is a programmable RFID tag which can interface with on board software on the phone. The idea is that over time your credit and loyalty cards can be replaced by a single NFC chip, which essentially turns your phone into a payment method. The biggest holdup with NFC is that banks and retail chains need to be ready for NFC, and it requires a significant upfront cost in the form of dedicated NFC capable PIN Pads. While Google and RIM have jumped on the NFC train with Google Wallet and all Blackberry phones getting NFC chips, Apple is taking a “sit back and watch” approach.

(more…)

Before the iPhone there was not much talk of “apps” (rather applications), but now it is a very common term for small applications which many of us install on our phones. Apple’s App store concept was so successful that other manufacturers quickly copied it for their own platforms, some more successful than others.

This past weekend the Apple App store just crossed the 25 billion mark for apps downloaded. Apple gave a $10,000 App store gift certificate to the person who downloaded that magic number, and we really wonder how you can spend $10,000 in the App store. Hopefully it is the entire Apple ecosystem.

(more…)

Apple is really trying its best to make it as easy as possible for developers to get into the iOS development game – until now their developer resources needed the user to access the developer portal. Now anyone can get an idea of what is involved in iOS development by just accessing “Start Developing iOS Apps Today”, without signing up for anything. Google also recently improved their Android design guidelines that is available online, through their Android Design page, so it is good to see Apple also doing the same.

The guide is particularly great for anyone who has no idea of what goes into developing a mobile app, including the programming languages used, tools that need to be downloaded, and of course the dreaded vetting process by Apple to decide whether your app is up to standard for the iPhone, iPad or iPod.

(more…)

About a week ago a big storm erupted because it was discovered that certain apps (like Path)  could access the iPhone address book, and then also send that address book details to a server to be stored. While everyone was focussing on the offending companies like Path and Twitter, the real culprits were Apple, because they did not have anything in place that informs the user that a app is accessing his or her contact details.

Finally Apple has replied to these concerns, and have decided to bring out a software update that will force the user to give permission to an app before it can access the Address Book. No word yet about when this software update will arrive, but it is safe to assume it would land with iOS 5.1 which should arrive by mid March 2012.

Here is Apple’s official statement regarding the issue:

“Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines*,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. “We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.”

So the apps did not comply with Apple’s guidelines. But for a company that has such stringent vetting standards when it comes to Apps, it does seem like a massive oversight on their behalf. But al least they will now do something about it.

To-do list apps are never that exciting – in fact, most of them simply rehash the same ideas. Different lists, and items you check off underneath each. But today a new app launched that has had a few user interface desginers very excited. You see, Clear does not follow any user interface guidelines which most good designers seem to agree with. Instead it uses an interface entirely devoid of buttons.

Users use a combination of pinches, drags and sweeps in order to create and complete tasks. In fact, the only familiar part of the interfaces is the occasional keyboard that pops up. Here is a basic guide to using the app:

- Pull down on a list to add an item

- Swipe an item right to complete it

- Swipe an item or list left to delete it

- Pinch apart two items to insert a new one between them

- Pinch vertically together to close the current list and show all the lists

Any items in your list can have a colour associated with it, but you simply hold them and drag them to the priority you want. You might want to check out this hands on demo of the app:

(more…)

WeatherSA.co.za, the online hub of the South African Weather Service, has unveiled a brand new weather application for all iOS devices, including the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The app is designed with South African users in mind, and supported by the South African Weather Service.

Several of the app features are a first for South Africa, such as storm warnings and push notifications, which are sent directly to the user’s device daily. Other highlights of the application include breaking news alerts, seven day tables of weather across the country, an outlook for various outdoor and sports activities, sunrise, sunset and moonrise times as well as hourly and weekly graphs covering rain, wind, temperature, pressure and humidity.

The WeatherSA app will be available as a free download and allows users to customise the weather notices sent to their device(s), from daily to weekly forecasts and local news to national warnings and provincial forecasts. The app can also predict the best time of day for outdoor activities such as cycling, swimming and going for a jog, making it the perfect lifestyle accessory.

One of the most novel features of the WeatherSA app is the ability for users to share alerts with their contacts via email, Twitter or Facebook, which links in perfectly with WeatherSA’s broad spectrum social media campaign. Their Facebook and Twitter pages will provide followers with daily updates, news and interesting information surrounding both the weather and lifestyle features.

(more…)

Yesterday the Apple iPhone 4S was supposed to launch in China, after it was finally approved by the Chinese government. But the number of people who showed up at the Apple retail stores proved to much to handle. Customers was waiting outside in -9 degrees celsius temperatures, and the stores did not open at the normal 7:00 AM time. At 7:15 AM people started chanting “Open the Door!” after an Apple representative announced to the crowd that the phone would not go on sale. The delay sales was not in all stores however, with Shangai getting their allotment on time.

Soon afterward the police had to be called in to calm down the crowd, who started pelting the stores with eggs. Customers were instead told to order their iPhones online, and Apple has decided to not continue sales of the iPhone in stores, in order to prevent unruly crowds forming again.

“The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible, and our stores in China have already sold out,” an Apple spokesperson told AllThingsD. “Unfortunately we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being. Customers can still order iPhone through the Apple Online Store, or buy at China Unicom and other authorized resellers.”

See our review of the iPhone 4S here.

Source: AllThingsD