Steve Jobs: 5 iLessons we can learn from his legacy

This is a Blogpost from a fellow iLover…enjoy

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are alre … Read More

via nanawireko

15 Great Apps for the iPad

iPad

Well some people say it’s nothing more than an oversized iPod, though frankly, that doesn’t sound too shabby, but the range of things you can do with the iPad is pretty wide, now the question is what do you want the iPad to do for you?, without further ado am going to be sharing with you 15 free apps that will change the way you use the iPad.

Which TweetDeck? ChromeDeck or DesktopDeck

This is for our readers who tweet actively. Sure most of you have heard of TweetDeck; most people consider it the best twitter client to date.
Well, there are two versions on both PCs and MACs. If you wonder which you would prefer, or just want to know the major differences between them, here they are in Pro-Con format!

ChromeDeck (Tweetdeck For Chrome)

Pros

• Aside the ‘composer drawer’ (that box where you type your tweet) you can also reply tweets/DMs in any column without losing a tweet in that box.
• You can check if a person is following back or not!
• You can drag your columns around easily, its a more tedious process on DesktopDeck.
• Smoother interface, doesn’t have a lot of errors that DesktopDeck has.
• Faster to install. Takes seconds.
• Share any page you’re on in TweetDeck by right-clicking and selecting the option.

Cons

• It doesn’t show the client a tweet was sent from (like a tweet saying “now at the movies” from web)
• Opens avatars in a separate window. Small issue, just thought to mention it.
• Doesn’t support drag-and-drop when adding pictures and videos to tweets, which DesktopDeck does.
• It requires the chrome browser, which most of you already have anyway.

DesktopDeck (Tweetdeck For Desktop)

Pros

• More complex than ChromeDeck. A Pro for the tech savvy.
• Capable of filtering tweets, putting read markers etc, hardly any of you use any of that stuff anyway.
• The most solid client I’ve ever used, and I’ve used more than a little. Simple point but it means a lot.
• Faster. Fastest.

Cons

• Uses up more memory. If your computer is a little slow, maybe not the way to go
• Uses up more network bandwidth. Replace ‘computer’ with ‘connection’ in previous point
• You can’t reply sent DMs. When you want to send someone a DM that hasn’t mentioned or ‘DM-ed’ you have to type their username. Click reply on a sent DM in ChromeDeck and it composes one to the receiver, DesktopDeck tries a ‘selfish’. Pet peeve, this one.

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Conclusio
I prefer ChromeDeck but I use DesktopDeck more, because its solid (don’t underestimate that) and I don’t use the Chrome browser as much as I used to. If you’re an active user of the Google Chrome browser, the ChromeDeck is your way to go. Try both clients, observe what you’ve read here, choose one, or use both like I do
Another advice: If you’re not going to use ChromeDeck, uninstall it, it runs in the background each time you start the browser, using up more memory and bandwidth! Happy tweetdeck-ing!

PS: ChromeDeck works in the Rockmelt if you’re into that

Install ChromeDeck here (Via Google Chrome, obviously)

Download DesktopDeck here (Install the pre-requisite, Adobe Air)

Download Ubersocial(former UberTwitter) For BlackBerry

The waves of the effect of Ubertwitter crashing were felt worldwide. I expect the same thing to happen now that the much awaited version – Ubersocial – is out.
Click here and pick download according to your OS version

Blackberry Playbook: What you need to know

I am sure some of you reading this must have heard about this great device coming from RIM. (the makers of Blackberry smartphones) The world of computing is evolving now, as we have now entered into the age of Tablets, a revolution was started by Apple who launched its first tablet the iPad in April 2010 to be precise, despite predictions that these unique device will fail and was not needed, it turns out that the device actually rocked the IT world and most companies have decided to ‘venture’ into the business as well. Back to the main subject; RIM (who recently acquired TAT (The Astonishing Tribe) a software company who develop user interface designs for operating systems and also QNX software systems, a software company who develop real-time operating systems for air traffic systems, trains etc.) have worked real hard to impress us all with this product, judging from the magnitude of things these two acquired companies can do together. The Playbook will sport a 7-inch, 1024 x 600, capacitive multi-touch display, a Cortex A9-based, dual-core 1GHz CPU (the company calls it the “fastest tablet ever”),the device will run on QNX operating system and supports HTML5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java,it also has 1GB of RAM, and a 3 megapixel front-facing camera along with a 5 megapixel rear lens for video conferencing, this will be capable of 1080p HD video, and comes equipped with an HDMI port as well as a microUSB jack, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1.it will be coming in both 16gb and 32gb versions.
Recently there has been rumors that the device will be able to run Android applications which are about 130,000 and counting, this could be possible because RIM considered using Google’s variant of java called Dalvik but later it was said that RIM dropped the ‘dalvik’ idea and decided to develop theirs internally which will still allow them run android apps on the Playbook, it is said that the development should be ready by the 2nd quarter of this year. Another interesting fact you need to know about the Playbook is its ability to integrate with your Blackberry smartphone in other to use your BBM, check your mails, send and receive text, make calls, play games and browse on the Playbook. The device will launch first (no official date announced yet) with only its Wifi only version and by the second quarter of this year the 4G variants will be launched, they include:
1. BlackBerry 4G PlayBook with Wi-Fi + WiMax
2. BlackBerry 4G PlayBook with Wi-Fi + LTE
3. BlackBerry 4G PlayBook with Wi-Fi + HSPA+

For those who don’t know much about the variants of 4G click here for full details

For the those who care to ask the Playbook will be coming with its own PIN, I confirmed this after digging through the API documentation of their WebWorks SDK which is the development kit for the Playbook.The device will be coming with a new feature called Mifi which is simply the ability to use your Playbook to get internet connectivity on other devices you use such as PCs or smartphones through either Bluetooth or wifi connection. Concerning price, the Playbook is expected to kick-off at $500 or less in the US, we don’t know how much it will cost by the time it gets to Nigeria, but it will definitely be in the same price range as the iPad which also starts off at the same price which is 120,000 naira or more depending on the variant of the iPad your buying.

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