Gifture App Review

By simon on 11 May 2012

Instant Gif images with Gifture.

I have been looking for a simple app to create Gif images on my iPhone for a while and finally one has been released. The new app is called Gifture and if you are familiar with Instagram (which most iPhone users are) you will have no problem navigating this app.

When you open the app for the first time you will have to open a Gifture account before you can start gifting. The opening of the account takes 2 minutes and is not a hassle at all.

The app is very simple to use and easy to figure out. Creating the gif images work in the same way as taking a normal picture. You just take more than one of the object or person you want to turn into a gif and there you go. After you have taken the picture you can start with some basic editing. You can add effects like B&W, Sepia, Pop and a few more. More will probably be added with app updates over time. You can also edit the frames per second to determine the speed at what your gif image will move.

Once your gif image is finished you can upload it. Gifture automatically uploads the photo to the Gifture feed but you can then chose if you want to upload the photo to either Facebook or Twitter. Gifture only gives you the option to save the photo to your camera roll after its been uploaded. Unfortunately you can’t save the Gif to your camera roll. The image gets saved as a video.

Gifture requiers iOS 5 and up and works in iPhone3Gs/4/4S and iPod touch 4th Gen.

Overall this app works very nice. I think its a good addition to the world of camera apps and best of all its free.

See below some pictures of the Gifture.

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First encounters of the Apple kind

By iFix on 9 May 2012

 

First encounters of the Apple kind

First encounters of the Apple kind

There are many people out there that are new to Apple devices and some of you might feel a little lost when getting started. I’ve decided to write a general guide to getting started and give an overview on some misconceptions.

Getting started:

·       It is not a prerequisite to have a computer  with an  internet connection to use one, if you are going to use it without one please get it activated in-store when you collect it.

·       For the rest of you, you will need iTunes installed on your PC or mac and an internet connection to get started.

·       Once you have unboxed it, first open  iTunes and create yourself an apple ID before connecting it to your computer.

·       you will need to authenticate that ID, this is done in  iTunes under the “store” tab, click “authorize computer”.

·       Now sign  in with that account on the idevice in “settings” > ”store”

·       You can now connect the device with the computer and “sync” it up! Please select in the main summary page all the items you want synced to the device.

Things to know:

**Any apps that you purchase with that account cannot be used on any other device using another’s Apple account. For example you cannot download apps into your app library in iTunes and expect everyone that uses that computer to be able to use those apps with their devices, only devices that use your account can use apps that were purchased with your account.

**If you have purchased items from the app store on the idevice itself you can connect the device to  iTunes and select “transfer purchases” to then upload those apps into your  iTunes app library.

**you can authorize up to 5 computers to use your account.

**you cannot purchase songs in the  iTunes store with a South African iTunes account as Apple does not support that functionality in South Africa yet.

**You will also not be able to transfer music from the device to anywhere; one can only load music to the device thru iTunes. There is 3rd party software available to  help you manage your music better, one that is free and works well is called “Sharepod”.

**There is also a software package available from Apple to manage your photo’s for those that are on iOS 5.0 or higher, called “photostream”. Please go check it out on Apple’s website, I won’t go into much detail about it as my next blog will be focused on this topic.

I thank you for reading and I hope this was informative, please post any questions and I will reply.

Noel Bruce
iFix
Cape Town – workshop manager.

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iOS 5.1.1 New Features

By iFix on 9 May 2012

iOS 5.1.1 New Features

iOS 5.1.1 New Features

iOS 5.1.1 was released yesterday evening with a few improvements and addressing some of the bugs that were found in iOS 5.1.

iOS 5.1.1 improvements and bug fixes

  • Improves reliability of using HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut
  • Addresses bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks
  • Fixes bugs that affected AirPlay video playback in some circumstances
  • Improved reliability for syncing Safari bookmarks and Reading List
  • Fixes an issue where ‘Unable to purchase’ alert could be displayed after successful purchase

The only reason that would prevent you from updating is to preserve your jailbreak or unlock. If you update your device the unlock or jailbreak will be removed and your device may not be able to return to its previous state.

If you are unsure of your devices unlocking method or would just like to update to the latest software please give us a call so that we can assist you.

Remember, rather ask a silly question than having a device that you can’t do anything with.

Please leave a comment or like this page if you found it informative.

Kind Regards
Theo
iPhone Software Technician

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Happiness is a warm blanket

By iFix on 7 May 2012

Twitter Blanket Drive

Twitter Blanket Drive

It started with a single tweet by @melanieminnaar in 2010 in an attempt to provide the needy with blankets before the worst of winter arrives. 700 blankets were donated due to that 2010 tweet, growing by another 2000 in 2011. In 2012, it has become a national phenomenon and iFix is joining in.

@iFixSA is supporting the Twitter Blanket Drive South Africa (@TBDZA) by offering its Melrose Arch clients a 5% discount on repairs, provided they bring us a blanket or two (or three!) to add to the growing pile at the Protea Hotel Fire & Ice drop off point in Melrose Arch before the 26th of May.

Cheers :)

Ben

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Office Essentials.

By iFix on 19 April 2012

Office essentials.

Office essentials.

Many of us get an iDevice with office work in mind, but are disappointed to find that the stock standard software on it deals very poorly with an office environment. For instance one cannot send more than one attachment on an e-mail, or even open a PDF document received, and printing from an iDevice is a nightmare.

Luckily there is a wonderful app out there called “Quick Office” that makes this possible. It opens most files you will be dealing with in the office, from PDF to excel sheets and even lets you edit them!

And it has an amazing feature where you can access all your docs on your phone straight from any computer browser on the same wifi network as the phone, and you can easily move files between your phone and the desktop machine.
The app comes with great tutorials on how to use it once downloaded and installed.

OK, so you can now open and edit docs and attach multiple files to one e-mail, but how do you print them? There is unfortunately no easy answer, and needless to say you will have to have a wifi or network printer. If you have a printer that supports “air-print” you have nothing to worry about, most new printers support air-print and work great with iDevices. For the rest of us there are apps out there that are specific to the make of the printer for example Epson has released “Epson iprint” that will connect to all Epson printers. There are many apps out there that help you connect to non-wifi printers, but will need a client installed on the network.

Connecting your iDevice to a printer can be tricky, and as each printer is different I cannot go into much detail on how to do this. Luckily we have a call out technician (Cape Town) that can help with this and we are currently looking at a product that will help solve this issue in the corporate environment so please phone your nearest iFix branch for any information regarding.

Thank you for reading, I hope this was informative and please leave comments and I will reply with solutions.
Noel Bruce
iFix Workshop manager

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Don’t believe iStore, it’s probably much cheaper to fix | yash and gravy

By iFix on 18 April 2012

From Yash and Gravy Blog

As I searched the internet for clever ways in which I could make use of the dud, I came across iFix.

They claimed that they could fix all things “i”. So I decided to give them a shout, well, an email. They promptly replied and provided me with a provisional quote of R5800, without even seeing the machine. Sounded great. iStore quoted me R16000, by the way. So I took the machine to them. Just over a week later, after a technician had inspected the machine, they emailed me a quote of R2800. That’s less than a fifth of what iStore quoted me. That’s R13200 less than iStore quoted me. You get the point.

Read full article >>>

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iOS 5 Alert Sound Repetition

By iFix on 11 April 2012

Phone

Since iOS 5 was released last year, we have had a few clients come in with alert repetition problems. The problem appeared on all devices “iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S”. There is no reason for the actual problem but it seems to be a bug in the operating system.

Apple would have closed this gap which allowed the problem to exist in the next software update. They released iOS 5.1 in the beginning of March along with the new iPad. So far no reports have been found to indicate that this problem still exists.

If you are struggling with alert sound repetitions here is a solution.

Navigate to “Settings > General > International”

Once you are at the above directory, select a different language. It can be any language just make sure that you will be able to find your way back to this menu. Once you have changed the language the device should restart. After the device is back in the operating system navigate to above directory and change your language back to your preferred language.

Now your alert sounds should be working correctly. If you are still having the same problem, please retry the steps above.

Make sure to leave a comment or like this post if it was helpful.

Theo Ellis
iPhone Software Technician

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Space Invader and Pantone Accessories

By iFix on 3 April 2012

The Space Invaders have arrived.

We have just received stock of the official Space Invader accessories for Mac’s, iPhones and iPad 2′s. It’s currently only at our Cape Town branch but will be available at the rest of our branches very soon. If you are in the Cape Town area come and check it out. There is limited stock so don’t wait too long! We have also received some new Pantone accessories. This includes iPad 2 covers and Macbook pro 13″ and 15″ sleeves.
 See below for some pictures of the different items for sale.
Space Invader and Pantone Accessories

Space Invader Accessories

 

Space Invader and Pantone Accessories

Space Invader Accessories

 

Space Invader and Pantone Accessories

Space Invader iPad Cases

 

Macbook Pro

Pantone Accessories for Macbook Pro

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CheqOut -­ mobile credit card payment app, launching in April 2012

By iFix on 29 March 2012

CheqOut

CheqOut

CheqOut,  a  local  take  on  Square,  will  be  launching  in  April  2012.  CheqOut  will  empower  small  retailers,  merchants  and  individuals,  who  generally  can’t  afford  credit   card   facilities,   the   power   to   accept   credit   card   payments   directly   from  their  mobile  phones.

Users   will   sign-­up   via   the   website   or   app,   fill   in   their   banking   details,   and  CheqOut  will  then  send  them  a  free  card  reader.  Once  received,  they’ll  be  able  to  start  accepting  credit  card  payments  directly  from  their  phone  and  the  funds  will  clear  in  the  users  bank  account  within  48hrs.  What’s  more  is  that  CheqOut  will  charge  one  competitive  flat  rate  per  transaction.

The  app  has  the  ability  for  users  to  add  products  and  product  categories,  track  sales,  send  receipts,  and  even  track  customers  spend.  Users  will  also  be  able  to  add   multiple   users   to   their   accounts   allowing   waitresses   and   other   staff   to  accept  payments.

Now,   we   all   know   what   you’re   thinking,   how   safe   is   all   of   this?   CheqOut’s  primary   concern   is   security,   which   is   why   they’ve   developed   3-­layer   security  system  as  well  as  various  fraud  detection  systems,  both  on  their  side  and  with  the  bank  itself.  They  don’t  want  to  delve  into  the  details  for  obvious  reasons,  but  assure  users  that  every  security  precaution  possible  has  been  taken  to  ensure  the  integrity  of  the  system.

CheqOut  are  giving  a  limited  amount  of  users  the  chance  to  use  the  service  with  zero  transaction  charges  for  the  first  month,  so  sign-­up  for  your  chance  to  be  chosen.

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Control iTunes with gestures

By iFix on 29 March 2012

FlutterEver had the need to control your iTunes with gestures? Probably not, but it’s awesome :) and with the new Mac App, Flutter, you can.

Flutter makes use of your webcam to detect hand gestures that allows you to play and pause your iTunes or Spotify without having to get close to your Mac. The app is currently still in the alpha phase of development but they have released it to the public already. Its such a simple and convenient app to use that once you tried it you almost can’t imagine why someone has not thought of this earlier.

 At the moment one can only pause and play songs. Hopefully they will add skipping of songs and maybe volume control in the future. The gestures work up to 6 feet away so it takes away the need for a wireless mouse or trackpad if you are just listening to music. If you want to see how easy it is to use you can go to their website www.flutter.io. The app can be downloaded from there as well.

We will just have to wait and see what the final product looks and works like but in its current form its already pretty cool so I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

If you want to follow their development you can check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Flutterapp.

Simon van der Merwe
Business Manager

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