BikeBaron

Bike Baron: Got Bored?

This game is one of the few I’m playing regularly on my iPad. I even gave it to a friend so that he can enjoy it as well. After a few hours playing, I got bored though. Mostly because there aren’t so many levels in the original game. Luckily, users can create and upload more …

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First week with the iPad 2

It’s been just over a week since I bought my iPad and while I was skeptical at first, I’m still very happy with my decision. Meant as a reader for RSS feeds and other news, it quickly became my go-to-gadget at home and therefore replacing my iPhone even for games. The simple reasons for that …

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iPad 2 cover

Protection for the iPad 2

Apple products tend to have a great design that I normally don’t want to destroy by wrapping my devices in any kind of cover. Yet, I do so every time. It started with my first iPhone which I put into a cover called Incipio Feather. It’s slim but does provide more protection than I thought, …

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Modern Combat 3

Modern Combat 3 available for iDevices

Just yesterday I was writing about me just having one game on my iPad. How could I know that Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation was coming out today? Well, I guess I could have known that if I’d be interested enough, but thanks to fellow bloggers it was difficult to miss. I wasn’t sure whether …

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Bike Baron

First game for my iPad: Bike Baron

As the “ultimate bike game” and Game of the Week, Bike Baron – Mountain Sheep caught my attention. It was the first game I got for the iPad and thus far is still the only one. Admittedly I’m not very good explaining games, which is why you’ll find the video of the gameplay below. Overall, it …

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Bike Baron: Got Bored?First week with the iPad 2Protection for the iPad 2Modern Combat 3 available for iDevicesFirst game for my iPad: Bike Baron

Nov
06

Bike Baron: Got Bored?

This game is one of the few I’m playing regularly on my iPad. I even gave it to a friend so that he can enjoy it as well. After a few hours playing, I got bored though. Mostly because there aren’t so many levels in the original game. Luckily, users can create and upload more levels which don’t have the typical three star achievements, but sure add some fun, once you got bored of the existing level. I sure hope that the publisher Mountain Sheep will find a way to integrate the achievements for user created level in an upcoming update.

It’s easy enough to get a new level, just visit this Blog for example with your iDevice, click the level you’d like to play and it’ll automatically start the game, download the level and let’s you play it. I’m also hoping for a way to download multiple level at once. Have fun with your new levels!

Oct
29

First week with the iPad 2

It’s been just over a week since I bought my iPad and while I was skeptical at first, I’m still very happy with my decision. Meant as a reader for RSS feeds and other news, it quickly became my go-to-gadget at home and therefore replacing my iPhone even for games. The simple reasons for that are the screen size and the form factor. I never liked the design of the iPhone 4 (S). It’s just too square for me.

The iPad also replaced my laptop, which I mostly used to either Skype or take with me to store photos as a backup whenever on the road. No boot times, no loading, no software issues and so on. I think you catch my drift. It simply works and although I hate to buy apps again that I own already just to use them on the iPad, they sure are worth it, cleverly using the extra space.

But back to the first week with my iDevice. It’s easy to use, it has a nice screen and does exactly what I expected it to and even excels in some areas. One of those areas would be the photo upload function, which I didn’t know even exists until I searched for accessories. I have to admit that I don’t think I would actually read a whole book on the iPad though. E-ink is amazing and maybe the iPad 3 comes close, but personally, if I had just wanted to read whole books, I would have gotten myself a Kindle.

This way I have a “big iPhone” that doesn’t fail to continuously amaze me with its simplicity, features and apps.

Oct
28

Protection for the iPad 2

Apple products tend to have a great design that I normally don’t want to destroy by wrapping my devices in any kind of cover. Yet, I do so every time. It started with my first iPhone which I put into a cover called Incipio Feather. It’s slim but does provide more protection than I thought, as I could discover during the years using it. Since it’s still in use, I can’t say anything bad about its durabilty either, which is why I bought one for my new iPhone as well. The touchscreen feels best without any kind of protection glued on op of it, which is why I prioritize functionality over protection and don’t use any screen protection.

Now to the iPad. Its big screen just screamed for a cover and luckily enough, Apple offers the iPad Smart Cover. While reviews vary from great to  horribly bad, I can’t complain about functionality or quality. It easily snaps in place with magnets and protects the screen from scratches. It doesn’t magically clean the screen and I wouldn’t use it for wiping it either, but to me that isn’t the point. To clean a touchscreen, I’m simply using a glasses cloth. The neat folding feature was also one of the reasons to buy this product. It’s great for typing or reading and can be used as a stand to show photos without holding the iPad in my hands.

The first days went by but I couldn’t stop thinking of the back getting scratched. Also, I like the way the iPhone cover feels. After spending a few minutes in an Apple store, I found the Cover Buddy. Its appearance is similar to the one I like so much on my iPhones. Not only do I have a peace of mind that the back won’t get any scractches, but I also like the feel of the cover. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it’s somewhat sticky due to the coating. The casing is only 1.8mm thick and hardly adds bulk. As it’s compatible with the Smart Cover, it’s the perfect companion to protect my iPad 2.

Yet another time I couldn’t resist to cover my new iDevice with some sort of wrapping, but the thin appearance, the protection and added functionality as well as                                           the new “feel” of the device make it well worth though.

Oct
27

Modern Combat 3 available for iDevices

Just yesterday I was writing about me just having one game on my iPad. How could I know that Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation was coming out today?
Well, I guess I could have known that if I’d be interested enough, but thanks to fellow bloggers it was difficult to miss. I wasn’t sure whether I should get it or not, as I’m still not sure what to think of touchscreen shooters. I bought it after all and I have to say that Im quite impressed. Sure it isn’t the same as keyboard+mouse, but I’d say it’s as good as it can get. So if you’re looking for a first-person-shooter for your iDevice, then don’t look further and give this game a try. Admittedly the price is quite steep, but in return you’ll get thirteen single player missions and a multiplayer mode.

Oct
24

First game for my iPad: Bike Baron

As the “ultimate bike game” and Game of the Week, Bike Baron – Mountain Sheep caught my attention. It was the first game I got for the iPad and thus far is still the only one.

Admittedly I’m not very good explaining games, which is why you’ll find the video of the gameplay below. Overall, it feels like a mixture of X-Moto and Angry Birds which sounds like hours of fun to me.


Oct
24

Move Google contacts to iCloud

Without commenting on possible reasons to move your Google contacts to iCloud and whether it’s worth doing so or not, the solution working for me was using iTunes.

Supposedly you can go to Google contacts, export all contacts as vCard, go to iCloud and drag and drop it to your address book. Unfortunately, that didn’t work for me. So far I’d say iCloud is flimsy at best, but that is a total different story.

 

1) Set up your iPhone to sync your contacts with Google.
2) Change your iTunes settings, so that you’re synchronizing these contacts with iTunes. It may
say this is unnecessary (and I’d normally agree), but just do it anyways.
3) Synchronize your iPhone with iTunes. (This step is the key to the success of this process.)
3) Disable Google contact sync on your phone. Just ignore a message saying that you’ll delete all contacts.
4) Set up iCloud and contact sync. It should now sync all your contacts with your address book.
The synchronization with iTunes can now be switched off again.

These simple step worked for me, but you never now. If you encounter any unexpected failures or have suggestions, please leave a comment.

Oct
23

Writing my blog on the iPad

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got my iPad mainly for reading and photo editing purposes. Due to the comfortable keyboard size and my blog actually being up and running again, writing posts seemed like yet another reason to justify my purchase.

So the search started for an app that would assist me with my plan. While the WordPress app is actually quite nice, I was wondering what else is available and after only a few minutes in the App Store, I found Blogsy.

I’m still not quite sure whether I like it or not, but it definitely has a few features I’m sure some of you will like as well. Its main strength in my opinion is the way the app is dealing with media types such as videos and photos. Check out the following video to get a first impression.

Oct
23

My new gadget: iPad 2

Due to upcoming mobile phone contract changes I came across the opportunity to get an iPad 2, or so I thought. Long story short, it didn’t work out the way I would have wanted it to. After all, I bought a Wifi-only version without a contract.

The main reason for me to buy an iPad, after I thought of it as an unnecessary gimmick for the time it being available, is the fact that I constantly stress my eyes reading on my iPhone despite having a 27″ screen attached to my Mac mini. It’s simply more comfortable to read in bed or on the couch.

Not sure if it would really be worth it, I decided on the 16GB Wifi-only version. Wifi-only is perfectly fine for my needs which are mostly reading and photo editing. I’m not planning to take the iPad on tour a lot so next to the obvious price difference and the fact that I can create a personal hotspot with my iPhone, I’m very happy with my decision.

There are probably as many unboxings and reviews as there are iPads, so I’m not intending to bore you with yet another one, especially since it isn’t as newsworthy as the iPhone 4s anymore. Just letting you know that I’m happy with my new iDevice, which will be an inspiration for many upcoming posts.

Oct
23

blogable.eu is back

After quite some time I finally managed to get the blog back up and running.

Special thanks to iSchack who helped me a lot to make this happen.

While there will come a lot of changes to visually personalise the blog and make it more appealing, I’m working on adding content already.

So stay tuned.