I been working on a new site called, SAiPhoneApps, that showcases South African developed iPhone apps & South African iPhone app developers.

The site is basically a directory of apps, that have been developed locally by the increasing number of iPhone development teams in South Africa. The site also lists all the iPhone developers, and allows you to connect with them via a contact form.

I will also be updating the site with the latest news of apps that have been released, as well as any apps relevant to the South African market.

We have loads of talent in South Africa, and I am looking forward to showcasing the apps they produce.
If you are an iPhone developer, get in touch with me, either on the contact page here, or the contact page on SAiPhoneApps. You can also follow updates on Twitter on @SAiPhoneApps

Earlier this year when Apple hosted WWDC one of the apps that was featured during the Keynote was the TomTom navigational app. Everyone was wowed by the app and what it could offer users as opposed to a separate GPS device in your car. You now had the opportunity for an all in 1 Device. GPS+Phone+Supercomputer all in one. There was a long silence after that, and then suddenly the app appeared on the app store at $99, and a further $99 for the cradle kit. It seemed a bit steep for both of them put together given that GPS devices are now round about the same price as that.

South Africa had to wait a bit for their mapsets to appear on the app store, but eventually they arrived with Navigon making its entrance first. TomTom was available sneaky sneaky, but has since made it debut in the app store. Finally NDrive, a relatively unknown GPS provider also came onto the scene with their app. So far NDrive seems to be the most popular in terms of reviews from users on the South African app store, because both Navigon & TomTom mapsets in the app are hugely outdated. With road name changes taking place in South Africa daily, and all the road upgrades & changes being made for next years World Cup, the mapsets need to be fully up to date and upgraded regularly.

I thought I would take a quick look at the 3 apps on offer as well as provide some links to the reviews to see what the people are saying. Most of the reviews I have found have been on the South African app store.

Mobile Navigator Southern Africa (Opens iTunes)

Price: $99.99 (±R770)

Size: 128MB

Mapset: Navteq

iTunes Rating: 3.5 stars – Comments Link

Comments: Reading through most of the reviews online people are really upset by the fact on how outdated the maps are, and how slow the app is.  The mapset seems to be from around 2007, which doesn’t really cut it given the changes to the roads since then. This is the most expensive app out of the lot, and has received a number of 1 star reviews in the app store.

Tom Tom Southern Africa (Opens iTunes)

Price: $79.99 (±R620)

Size: 140MB

Mapset: TomTom Mapset

iTunes Rating: 3.5  – Comments Link

Comments: Again, reading through the comments the maps seem very out of date. I have seen a version of this app on a mates phone, and being TomTom fan, I wasn’t hugely impressed. The app seems really slow and “clunky”. I expected a bit more out the TomTom app given the hype that surrounded it at WWDC. Hopefully they can redeem themselves by bringing out an update to see the new road changes in South Africa. Out of the 3, it also looks the most “basic” to me.

NDrive South Africa (Opens iTunes)

Price: $69.99 (±R540)

Size: 144 MB

Mapset: Mapit (Q3 2009)

iTunes Rating: 4.5 – Comments Link

Comments: Judging by the comments on the review in the app store, it would seem that this is the best GPS navigational app in South Africa so far. The fact that they are using a local company for the mapset, Mapit, and it is the latest version, says something about the app. It is also the cheapest of the 3. I also saw a really cool option in the screenshots that allows you to see some of the buildings in 3D. It also has a built in Adventure mode, which allows you to use it while walking or geocaching.

By the looks of things NDrive takes the cake with this one, but I am really hoping that TomTom & Navigon comes to the party and updates the mapsets. We have fantastic mapping companies in South Africa, and they should be using them. I still wonder why the likes of Garmin haven’t come to the party. Added to the fact that there is talk of the Google Maps app becoming a fully fledged navigational app, it is sure going to be an interesting few months ahead.

I was away last week, so didn’t get round to posting my weekly review. While I was away I acquired a new iPhone 3Gs. So now I can try out all the AR apps that are available. I am a big big fan of navigational stuff, so the compass app on the 3Gs, is also pretty awesome.

Layar Reality Browser (Free)

This is an awesome app. Augmented Reality is set become the next big thing. But what is Augmented Reality ? Well in a nutshell, we will using mobile devices in the future to tell us about things/people/objects around us. So for example. You sitting in Paris, you hold your phone up to the Eifel tower, with Layar app running. The app will then give you all the information about the tower, show you pictures people have taken etc. It will also show you other points of interest around you. I have used it to show me pictures people have taken around me. All in all a very cool app, with loads of potential. If you have a 3Gs, just get it :)

Pano ($2.99)

I know I have mentioned this app before, but it is really one of my top apps on my phone. I cannot wait to see how the 3Gs Camera will work with this one, and some of the Pano shots I get.
Last week when I was in Cape Town, I managed to get a stunning shot of the Sunset from the Blue Peter hotel in Blouberg.

ArminOnly ($7.99)

The price on this one may put you off a bit, but I can guarantee you it is well well worth it. This is the full “DVD” set of Armin van Buuren 9 (NINE) hour set recorded live in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It is seriously insane, and has some some awesome video. It makes me want to daaaance :)If you are an Armin van Buuren fan, then I highly suggest this app.

At a kiddies Halloween party. Organised chaos. Good fun.

Posted via web from Between Two Lives

The team from immedia have released their latest their iPhone app offering called Portfoolio. The app is allows you to track your share portfolio from the JSE and get real time pricing and stats and notifications.

I have been using this app for the last couple of months, and I can honestly say this is by far one of the best apps to come out of South Africa yet. The information is pretty much real time, and allows you to import your full share portfolio from a number of sites, such as Fin24.com or Sharenet.

Portfoolio tracks equities, indicies, unit trusts and Single Stock futures. You can also take a quick glance at a ticker which shows the current price of  the shares in your portfolio, which shows you a red or a green figure depending on the movement of the stock.

The app also has a feed for SENS news alerts, as well as real time push notifications should your share drop below a specified percentage, as well as push notifications for the SENS alerts.

You can download Portfoolio from the app store here -> http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=333260218&mt=8

Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for.
Google has added driving directions for South African users, which now allow us to get directions free of charge using the Google maps engine.

Google maps driving directions can be used on both the website, http://maps.google.com/ as well as the iPhone Maps app.

Here is an example of how to get driving directions in Google Maps. Go to http://maps.google.com/, and select the directions tab. Enter your departure address, and your destination address.

The cool thing is it gives you step by step instructions as well as highlighting it on a map.

Next step is Google Streetview, which we should hopefully see in about April next year

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I haven’t come across any groundbreaking or extra cool apps this week in the app store, so I thought I would go back and look at some of my most used apps on my iPhone. I use these almost everyday for something different, and they are all winners on my 2nd page :)

Doodle Jump – $0.99

I have written about this game before, but I really can’t put this game down. It is THAT bad. My wife has now started jostling for my iPhone, to a point where I have considered taking out a loan to buy her her own. It is THAT bad :)

In all seriousness, this is 1 awesome game, and if you looking for something to waste your time on, then I suggest you get this game. “Our” (Read my wife’s) highest score is 31971. The latest update to the game also brings in a new “boss” who is a killer. Also check out the Doodle Jump facebook fan page. Leave your highest score in the comments, to see if you can been the Doodle Jump kings :)

Convert – $0.99

This is a handy app that converts almost anything to everything. seriously. If you need to know how many Russian Rubles you can get for 1 Phillipino Pesos (0.647 btw), or if you suddenly need to know how many Ergs are in 1 Killowatt-Hour (3,6e13)
The app layout and interface is fantastic, and there are hundreds of different conversions you can make. This is one app, you buy, may not use it all the time, but is a life saver when you do need it.

Speed Test.net Speed Test – Free

I’m pretty sure we have all used the SpeedTest.net site to check our connection speeds at sometimes in our lives. It seems to have become the benchmark in testing connectivity issues, and speed on broadband connections. The app does exactly the same for you, and is super handy when trying to figure out why your surfing speed on your phone is slow. The app also stores your previous speed tests. All in all a fantastic app which, for the price, is a keeper.

Today we have a guest post by Kishyr Ramdial. Kish is an iPhone developer at immedia and is iPhone obsessed :)
If you want to read up a bit more about Kish and his ways, be sure to check out his interview on izimvo.

Let’s face it, the iPhone is a life changing device. Most of you either don’t know how you managed with out it, or wondered what you’d do if you were forced to use another device. But in all it’s glory, there’s one factor that we all, thoroughly, hate about this gifted device: the poor battery life.

Or at least, what we perceive to be a poor batter life. We’ve all complained about it at some point but the thing is, it’s battery life is actually pretty decent. There, I said it! Think about it. This all-in-wonder device has four(!) radios built-in: GPS, GSM, 3G, and WiFi; a proximity sensor; a light-metre; an accelerometer; and 3GS users also have a digital compass. Woah. And all those apps to take advantage of each one of those awesome technologies.

But that’s just not it. iPhone users also use their phone more than any other mobile device they’ve used before (not a scientific study but it’s pretty obvious). We’re constantly on our phones, tweeting, checking maps, replying to emails, browsing the web, listening to music and laughing while our phone makes farting noises.

The sheer fact that we use this device more often means the battery life will inevitably reduce it capacity quicker, not because it’s got a poor battery inside it (well maybe that too).

But if you’re caught in a situation where that gloomy red battery indicator is on the top-right of your screen indicating that you’re down to your last 20%, and you might need to make an emergency call, here a few tips to squeeze every single drop of power out of your phone:

1. If you don’t have Wifi reception; turn Wifi off. (But if you do have Wifi reception, leave it on as 3G uses more battery power than Wifi does).
2. Turn off 3G.
3. Reduce your screen’s brightness.
4. Turn off Push notifications. A significant drop in battery power happened when iPhone OS 3.0 was released. This is because the iPhone always maintains a single connection to the mothership’s server so that it can push alerts to your device.
5. Turn off bluetooth.
6. Turn off Location Services or stop using apps that require the A-GPS. Location based apps use the iPhone’s A-GPS technology to pin point your location. Apps can use three different technologies to get your location: Wifi geolocation; cellular triangulation; and the built-in GPS itself. Depending on the accuracy of location that the app requires, it can use any of the above technologies, or all three (like how Maps does).
7. Use apps that don’t require the 3D graphics power of the phone’s graphics processor (like games).
8. Set the phone’s auto-lock feature to 1 minute.
9. Set your mail to manually check for new messages (instead of an periodic check or Push).
10. Stop checking what the time is on the stand-by screen! You know you do it all the time. I’ve said it before: cell phones are the new pocket-watches! By constantly putting the display on and off, you are using precious battery power.

Hope these tips help!

We all know that a rather big downfall of the iPhone is the very limited selection of ringtones they offer as standard options. iTunes does offer ringtones for purchase, but at $0.99 a pop, I’m a bit hesitant.

I came across this fantastic site a while ago, and used it again today. The site, Audiko.net, allows you to upload a song of your choice, edit it, then download it as a custom iPhone ringtone. They also have millions of ringtones that are already on the site, which you can download and then drag into iTunes, and sync to your phone.All of this for FREE !! Cool hey ?

Here is a quick quick tutorial on how to get your own ringtone onto your iPhone.

1. Visit Audiko.net. You can either upload a song, trim it to your specs, or download it from the site. For this example, I am going to download a song from the site. Click on “Download Ringtone for iPhone“, and save it to your desktop. The file will be saved in a .m4r format.

2. Drag the downloaded file into iTunes -> Ringtones. You should now see the downloaded file in iTunes under Ringtones. If you don’t see it here, try and add  it by clicking on Ringtones -> File -> Add file to Library in iTunes

3. Make sure that Sync Ringtones is ticked on the Ringtones tab on your iPhone in iTunes. Sync your phone, and you should now see your downloaded ringtone on your iPhone.

4. To select the ringtone on your iPhone go to Settings -> Sounds -> Ringtone -> and you now should see your ringtone at the top of the screen under custom. Select it, and you now have your favorite song as your ringtone.

Easy hey. Shout in the comments if you get stuck. Happy listening :)

Here is the official press release of the Navigon iPhone app. Stay tuned for a review (and maybe, maybe a little surprise ;)) coming soon…

NAVIGON Launches First Professional GPS Navigation for iPhone in South Africa – App From Europe’s Fastest Growing GPS Company Now Available

NAVIGON AG, Europe’s fastest growing GPS brand, today announced the availability of a South African version of its on-board navigation software in the iPhone App Store. The MobileNavigator transforms the iPhone into a complete navigation device with turn-by-turn voice directions and unique features such as adjustable audio-visual speed warnings, branded point of interest icons along the route, direct navigation to contacts saved in the address book, full integration of the iPod control and much more.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 28 September 2009 — NAVIGON is a world-leading manufacturer of navigation solutions and the first top-tier provider to launch an iPhone navigation app for South Africa. The Germany-based company is a navigation expert across all platforms standing for high-quality GPS navigation on pocket PCs, PNDs and mobile phones. NAVIGON’s iPhone solution has already been extremely successful in Europe, North America and Australia. It quickly reached top positions in the local App Stores. The software features a very easy to use interface that is seamlessly integrated into the overall iPhone experience. It is packed with NAVIGON’s hallmark navigation features such as Speed Assistant providing audio warnings when exceeding speed limits to an adjustable degree, a handy Take Me Home button and sophisticated and elegant map views including branded POIs along the route. Taking advantage of the iPhone’s own functionalities, the app even allows navigating to contacts saved on the phone’s address book, to directly call the number of a point of interest such as a hotel or restaurant, share a location or destination with friends via email or listen to music from the iPod while navigating.

The MobileNavigator transforms any iPhone 3G, equipped with at least Apple OS 3.0 operating system, or iPhone 3G S into a complete navigation device. After downloading the GPS application, the software and map data is saved directly on the device. This means that users don’t have to pay subscription fees or wait for map downloads during the navigation.

“By making the MobileNavigator for the iPhone available for users in South Africa, we are taking another step towards the future market of GPS navigation on mobile phones,” said Gerhard Mayr, Vice President World-Wide Mobile Phone & New Markets of NAVIGON AG. “The combination of NAVIGON’s signature navigation features with typical functions from the iPhone creates an integrated and unique experience.”

The NAVIGON solution sells for $99.99 and is equipped with maps of South Africa from NAVTEQ. It will be available for a promotional price of $74.99 until October 15.

Key features of the NAVIGON MobileNavigator for the iPhone:

• Speed Assistant with adjustable audio-visual warning.
• Direct Access allows navigation to contacts saved in the iPhone’s address book.
• Location Sharing. This feature makes it easier to meet-up with friends and acquaintances. Users can share their own location, an address or a point of interest such as a restaurant or museum with other people via email.
• Route Planning. NAVIGON’s route planning function enables users to plan a route with different destinations ahead of a trip.
• Call POI’s. The call POI function allows to directly call the number of a POI such as a restaurant or hotel by simply clicking on the number.
• Seamless integration of the iPod control. Users can access the iPod functions while navigating. During voice announcements, the volume of the music smoothly fades out.
• Automatic Day and Night Mode. Depending on the time and location, the map colors change for optimal display visibility at all times.
• Branded POIs and POIs along the route
• Take Me Home Button
• 2D and 3D map view.
• Automatic switch between portrait and landscape format.
• Intelligent address entry.
• Real signpost display.

For more information and FAQs, please visit: www.navigon.com/iphone.

You will also find NAVIGON on the following platforms:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/NAVIGON_.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NAVIGONcom
Facebook: http://facebook.twi.bz/Ob