Live Broadcast Augmented Reality

Posted on May 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Certainly looks like fun, is there any other use?

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It was one of those days…

Posted on May 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

I have been meaning to upgrade my home iMac to Lion for a while now, with the end of MobileMe imminent (end of June) and wanting to use some features of iCloud on my iMac I knew that I would need to make the move.

What was key for me was to ensure that the process was as smooth as possible. The first thing I did was back up all my data files. Though I back up on a regular basis, this process was to ensure that all my photographs, video files and documents were transferred to a backup hard drive. Once this was done, the next stage was to run Disk Utility to repair permissions, that went fine.

So the next stage was to start the Lion install process, and at that point disaster struck!

The install routine failed!

Install failed. Mac OS X could not be installed on your computer. Mac OS X Lion couldn’t be installed, because the disk Macintosh HD is damaged and can’t be repaired. Click restart to restart your computer and try installing again.

Yes, tried again same message.

Ah well, I thought, so I then decided to restart back in OS X Snow Leopard… but the OS X Lion installer wouldn’t let me.

Tried Disk Utility to repair the hard drive with no success.

At this point I was glad I had taken a backup of my data.

After looking at Apple Discussions, I tried to use my Snow Leopard install DVD to fix the drive, however this didn’t work. After a couple of hours of trying to repair the drive using various solutions, I decided that I wasn’t going to be successful trying to do that. So made the plunge and decided to format the drive and reinstall.

However… that didn’t work! I kept getting errors with the OS X install routine failing to install on the drive. In the end I just gave up and using the iPad booked a slot at the Genuis Bar at my local Apple Store.

Taking the iMac to the store went very smoothly, they connected it up to their diagnostic software, confirmed that everything was working as it should, except the hard drive.

As I had taken out Applecare on the iMac, the cost of the replacement hard drive and fixing it would be covered, however it would take between 5-7 days!

Hopefully it will all be sorted by then.

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Posted in imac, lion, os x, snow leopard

What? No visual voicemail!

Posted on May 12, 2012 | 1 Comment

no visual voicemail

My work iPhone was recently switched from O2 to Vodafone. Initially I didn’t notice too much difference, true tethering has been useful now and again. However one big difference has come up that is slightly annoying. It would appear on Vodafone you don’t get visual voicemail as you do with O2. As a result if you get voicemail you need to dial 121 to see who has left you a message and how many messages you have.

I believe that the only way that this can be fixed is at carrier level and if the “complaints” on the Vodafone forums are anything to go by then Vodafone aren’t in any hurry to add this feature.

Is this a critical flaw? No but it an annoying one!

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Posted in iphone, o2, vodafone

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Halftone is free

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

I reviewed this app on my e-Learning blog, it was good value then at 69p, however for this weekend Halftone is free, so well worth checking out.

What it does is take a photograph and convert it into a comic style image that can then be used on a blog, in a presentation, or on a print document.

Tthis is a nice simple app that allows you to create a vintage comic panel from one of your photographs in a particular style. You can remove the captions and I quite like the built in photo editing tools.

Get Halftone in the iTunes Store.

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Even more Lego Harry Potter

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

Harry Potter is back, well in Lego form, on the iPad. The first Lego Harry Potter game for the iPad (and iPhone) was a great success in our house. Enjoyed by all and still played a lot today. However we have been looking forward to the next instalment, our anticipation getting hyped even more when Harry Potter: Years 5-7 was released for all the other gaming platforms.

However the wait is over…

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is now available for the iPad and is only £2.99

So far I’ve only downloaded the 466MB App and no one has had a chance to really play the game… so no idea if it’s better or worse than the original and no idea if it’s any good.

First glance is that the graphics are better than the first one, the app appears to be snappier (but that may be because my first glance was using the new iPad rather the original iPad, however the game is (allegedly) compatible with the original iPad, which is nice as some new games are only compatible with iPad 2 or better).

Gameplay is pretty standard Lego gaming style, combination of puzzles and processes to progress through.

My only real concern is that the latter part of Harry Potter is certainly darker than the first four films. However this is Lego and when you “die” in a Lego game, you basically fall to pieces and you can always build the Lego pieces back together!

Overall I think this is going to be a fun game and at £2.99 is very good value. I don’t know what (if anything) is missing from the game compared to the console version, but at first glance it does look more like the PSP version than the PS3 version.

What this game also does is ask the question, what is the future of mobile gaming systems, when you can buy the iPod touch (which supports this game) for about the same price as the Nintendo 3DS or PS Vita and not only does it so much more than those two systems, but also the games which are of a similar quality are so much cheaper. The same game for PlayStation Vita is currently £24.99 at Amazon and the PSP version is £15.49. Of course those versions were released back in November 2011, though were more expensive then too. Is the £2.99 price point on the iTunes App Store sustainable? No idea.

Get Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 in the iTunes App store.

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Posted in ipad, iphone, ipod touch, lego

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