Let’s have a look at the numbers, then.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, took the opportunity yesterday to announce a bombshell: that iPads had outsold desktop computers in the fourth quarter of 2011.

These figures came directly from the International Data Corporation (IDC), which is part of the world’s leading technology media, events and research company, the International Data Group (IDG).

Apple reported 15,4 million iPads sold. It’s almost fair to say that there isn’t a massive tablet market out there, but rather an iPad market. Cook explained that 55 million iPads have been sold since the original launch back in April 2010.

The iPad market share is now equal to 17 per cent of the overall PC market.

Specifically referring to the Kindle Fire, Cook explained that when looking over Apple’s numbers, they didn’t seem to see any impact from the Kindle Fire being on the market. Good or bad.

Apple sold 37 million iPhones during this quarter.

And for the same fourth quarter period, Microsoft’s net income was $6,62 billion. Apple’s was $13,06 billion.

This net income figure reported by Apple is the equivalent of what their revenue was for their 2010 fourth quarter.

As Tech Crunch points out:

Apple’s revenues, while massive, are nothing compared to a company like Walmart, which reported $109.5 billion in revenue last quarter. BUT that $109.5 billion only turned into $3.3 billion of actual income for the quarter. In other words, Walmart has more than double the revenues of Apple, but Apple has more than four times the profits of Walmart. That’s remarkable.

Steve Jobs would be pleased.

[Sources: BusinessInsider, TechCrunch]

A recent study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore showed that serious injuries to pedestrians wearing headphones has more than tripled in just 6 years. The overwhelming majority of the accidents were caused by pedestrians being hit by vehicles, unaware of their imminent approach due to being cut-off by their music.

“Everybody is aware of the risk of cellphones and texting in automobiles, but I see more and more teens distracted with the latest devices and headphones in their ears,”

So said lead author Richard Lichenstein, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Sadly in many of the cases approaching vehicles were sounding their horns which pedestrians could not here leading to fatalities in more than a third of the cases.

The study was initiated almost 10 years ago when a teenager was killed while crossing railroad tracks. At the time of the accident the teen was wearing headphones and did not react to the train’s horn being repeatedly sounded.

Researchers reviewed 116 accident cases from 2004 to 2011 in which pedestrians were struck by trains or vehicles:

In 70% of the cases, they were killed. More than two-thirds of victims were male and under the age of 30. More than half of the moving vehicles involved in the accidents were trains, and nearly a third of the vehicles reported sounding a horn prior to the crash. “The increased incidence of accidents over the years closely corresponds to documented rising popularity of auditory technologies with headphones,” the university says in a statement.

So next time you set off on a little walkabout maybe ditch the headphones and enjoy the sounds of nature/the city, it could make all the difference.

[Source: USA Today]

I get a kick out of liberating people, and the more that experience the freedom one feels when logged into one’s own US iTunes account, the better. And guess what, ANYBODY can get a US iTunes account. You don’t need to live in America and you don’t need an American credit card.

For those of you who are not aware, having a US iTunes account opens up a whole world of up-to-date movies, TV shows and iPhone apps. Check this out from www.getusitunesaccount.com:

Well done for making it here – your life is about to change!

Below you will find step-by step instructions on how to setup a US iTunes account and, below that, you will find further instructions showing you how to buy vouchers online and load them into your new account.

With most of the world’s high end media coming out of the United States, it is widely accepted that the greatest iTunes database of new media, is the US iTunes offering – only available to people with a US iTunes account. From music to movies and TV Shows, the spread of content is so vast and so current, your mind may well explode. Imagine a place where you can rent movies for $3.99 (R30) and you’ve got 29 days to watch it. And once you press play, you’ve got 24 hours to finish it. And we’re not talking old DVD type titles – we’re talking titles that sometimes haven’t even arrived at the local cinema! And don’t even get me started on the series that you can get. Imagine getting the latest episodes of Mad Men, Glee, Top Gear, Gossip Girl, Family Guy and more for just R7 an episode – available to buy and watch immediately, anytime you want!

Opening a US iTunes account gives you access to that media, from any country in the world. The only problem is you can’t open a US iTunes account without a US address (incl. correct zip code) and US credit card.

That is why we have put together these step by step instructions, allowing you to register with the US iTunes store with a correct US address and to pay for your purchases using iTunes vouchers bought from a third party vendor.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Do yourself a favour and check that out. Things have changed, my friends. This stuff used to be limited to the nerds and geeks. But now that we’ve got the likes of RSAWEB’s uncapped broadband (you don’t have? that’s embarrassing..), and you can watch latest movies at home for less than R30 (in HD if you want!), you’d be a fool not to get involved.

So CLICK HERE to check it out and find out why I haven’t touched DSTV or gone to the cinema in over a year!

You’re welcome.

The balloon burst at around 100 000 feet, which Google tells me is 30 480 metres, in altitude, sending the iPad plummeting down to land on a hillside in Nevada. And I mean props to G-Form, because the iPad still seemed to be working after the landing.

I mean yes, the 30km drop wasn’t exactly necessary to prove a point – the iPad would’ve hit terminal velocity from a much lower height and the impact would’ve been the same – but shut up, it’s cool to drop things from space.

[Source: Technabob]

Obviously, Apple sort of likes surprising people with stuff, so any reports coming in now are subject to change – but the consensus seems pretty clear that we’re not liable to see any sort of iPad 3 launch this early in the year, with a greater emphasis on Apple’s mobile advertising and publishing software, namely iAds and iBooks.

Says AllThingsD:

…some kind of advertising or even publishing announcement, … since Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue is reportedly involved.

Cue is in charge of a large swath of Apple’s media units, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, as well as iAd and its iCloud services.

It’s well known in the ad industry that Apple has been searching for a new head of its mobile advertising unit, since Andy Miller left last summer.

All of which is largely speculative – but those of you who acquired new Apple hardware over the festive season can rest relatively easy in the knowledge that it’ll at least be another six months before your stuff is obsolete.

[Source: SlashGear]

Apple has posted a lot of impressive numbers recently, mostly thanks to the world’s most popular tablet, the iPad. At one stage Apple was more liquid than the US Treasury (although I don’t think that takes much these days). This recent milestone is not only a big win for Apple, who is slowly taking over the highly-coveted business market, but a bit of an embarrassment for Blackberry, whose recent range of products has failed to satisfy the market. This includes the Playbook tablet, which it was forced to sell below cost price in a bid to cut losses.

Recent outages in Blackberry’s service has also done little to strengthen faith in the brand. Whilst Blackberry Internet Service is a lot cheaper than a data plan, many users are preferring the reliability of a paid data plan, causing further migration away from Blackberry.

RIM’s stock was selling at $13,44 a share last week, giving the company a value of $7,04 billion. This is slightly less than the estimated value of Apple’s App Store, which is estimated at $7,08 billion.

[Source: AppleInsider]

Apple recently showed a St. Louis, USA-based app developer a red card, giving him a one year ban from their App Development Programme, all because he tried to prove a point.

Charlie Miller, a security researcher, developed an application that took advantage of a security breach he detected on Apples iOS, that would allow external hackers to abuse Javascript to gain access to iOS devices such as iPhone and iPad. He disguised it as a stock ticker and uploaded it to the App store, before contacting Apple to alert them to the breach using his app per example.

Bad move. Apple banned him for a year, rightly claiming he breached their terms of service by obscuring malware as an innocent app. He claims he’s still a white hat (look it up), and simply tried to illustrate a potentially dangerous flaw in their security system. Apple have yet to respond further to his appeal.

Miller once worked as a security researcher for America’s National Security Agency, and has made a long career outside shady government agencies knocking holes in Apple’s security infrastructure, and then alerting them to the breach (white hat!). You can check out a video of him hacking a Macbook in under two minutes after the jump. Dude’s got skills. Maybe Apple should pay attention.

[Source: The Daily]

“Remembering Steve” runs a scrolling display – sort of like Twitter – of the millions of emails Apple has received about Steve Jobs over the past two weeks, with more rolling in daily. Which, as memorials for technology guys go, isn’t terrible.

If you’d like to swing by for a look – or even just to rage about after-the-fact Jobs-worship — head over here. The email address is also still accepting memories, in case you care to share your own.

[Source: RememberingSteve]

The New Yorker, who was already suspicious of a man his wife had been in contact with, loaded it up without her knowledge (sneaky). He then texted her, asking her whereabouts, but when she told him she was in the east village, the App told a different story. According to Apple, their iPhone or iPad’s built-in Global Positioning System is accurate to within a few feet.

So, understandably, some of his rants went a little like this:

I just texted her asking where she was and the dumb b—- said she was on 10th Street!!

Thank you Apple, thank you App Store, thank you all. These beautiful treasure trove of screen shots [sic] going to play well when I meet her … at the lawyer’s office in a few weeks.

thankfully, she’s the rich one.

Seeing that the man did not immediately reply to a request from ABC News for comment, many people are questioning the authenticity of the story. But, nonetheless, more than 100 000 people have viewed the posts, and over 300 people have replied with comments, sympathy and skepticism, according to MacRumors.

Arnold Kim, the editorial director of MacRumors, did however clarify that all users, must verify their email address when logging in.

Busted!

[Source: yahoo]

The American “jam rock indie band” (unfortunately I don’t fit into skinny jeans, so I’m not able to tell you what that means) got together to re-work one of their songs to be played only on iPads. At the beginning of video, they dedicate the song to the late Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs. The tablets are used to replace everything from bass guitar, lead guitar, drums and even a xylophone. The song was performed live at the band’s annual “moe.down” festival in New York.

The band’s lead guitarist, Al Schnier, describes their music in the following way:

It’s an amalgamation of a wide variety of the history of rock, all regurgitated and recycled through the eyes, ears, hands, whatever of the guys in our band and all of that with a sense of adventure, a sense of humor, also a constant desire to push the envelope. All in this arena of taking chances, improvising live, and making things up on the spot.

What’s even more amazing is when you listen to the original version of the song. Crazy good.

[Source: YouTube]

The UK-based Stuff Magazine put Siri to the test, and it works pretty well, all told. Even when compensating for British accents. Granted, I’d feel like a douche talking into my phone to set alarms, send emails, and look up the distance to the moon, but it’s really cool that I can.

The iPhone 4S starts shipping out this Friday.

[Source: WIRED]

By all accounts the chief incentive here seems to be patent-guarding; says Google CEO Larry Page:

Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

Beyond the fact that your Motorola-spending cash now goes to Page instead of whoever CEO’d the company before, there isn’t a huge amount changing here; Motorola switched to Android as the sole OS for their smartphones in 2008. Still, this means Google is now in the hardware business, which is a relatively new step for them.

Motorola Mobile is also the maker of the Motorola Xoom tablet, pictured above.

Mighty are your works.

[Source : googleblog]

To make light of the situation and to prepare for Friday’s meeting, cnet has employed the services of Academy Award winner, Richard Dreyfus, who gives a beautiful and moving performance of the Apple iTunes End User License Agreement. Click here to enjoy.

[Source : cnet]

Chinese factories making iPads and iPhones are forcing staff to sign pledges not to commit suicide. And if they do, their families will get next to no compensation. This comes after at least 14 workers at Foxconn factories in China have killed themselves in the last 16 months as a result of horrendous working conditions. Many more are believed to have either survived attempts or been stopped before trying at the Apple supplier’s plants in Chengdu or Shenzen.

Can you guess what that net is for?

An investigation of the 500 000 workers by the Centre for Research on Multinational Companies and Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (Sacom) found appalling conditions in the factories.

They claimed that:

• Excessive overtime was rife, despite a legal limit of 36 hours a month. One payslip showed a worker did 98 hours of overtime in one month!
• During peak periods of demand for the iPad, workers were allowed to take only one day off in 13.
• Badly performing workers were humiliated in front of colleagues.
• Workers are banned from talking and are made to stand up for their 12-hour shifts.

And all this for a minimum wage of about R60 a day?

A little low considering Apple made profits of $6 billion in the first quater of this year alone.

[Source: Daily Mail]

Apple sold almost 15 million units through its first fiscal quarter , which ended Dec. 25. The device accounted for 17 percent of revenue in the period, compared with 39 percent for the iPhone, which first reached the market in 2007.

“The tablet becomes the next growth starter for the next two years for Apple,” said Scott Sutherland [analyst at Wedbrush Securities Inc.], who rates Apple shares “outperform” and doesn’t own any. “The company is releasing a second edition while many competitors are introducing their first tablets,” he said.

There is also widespread speculation that there will be a healthier battery life, and the tablet will be slimmer and lighter. That means that not only the fiendish geeks like me are satisfied (because it’ll fit snugly into my satchel), but the product is also being brought in line to suit the “burgeoning demand” from corporates.

No doubt this means that we’ll have to wait around nine months for a South African release, as the iPad was launched here at the end of January 2011.

Have you got any interesting iPad stories? Sound off in the comments section below.

[Source: Businessweek]

Main image via Popsci.

The iPad Finally Comes To South Africa – Officially! - Finally the first OFFICIAL Apple sanctioned iPads are available in South Africa. Digicape, 2oceansvibe and SA’s favourite official Apple Mac product provider made the announcement on their website at midnight, last night. iPads will start at R4,399 and, by all accounts, you better move fast to make sure you aren’t left in the dust! Click through and check out the rest of the range! [digicape]

Charlie Sheen Goes To Hospital – The inevitable 911 phone call has finally taken place. This after Charlie Sheen indulged in a 36-hour bender with three porn stars and a briefcase of cocaine. There are many wild details, but eventually Charlie ended up in his theater room with one of the porn stars with whom he was partying. They watched 3 hours of porn, as Charlie critiqued the action on the screen. No-one on earth does it like Charlie Sheen. I’ll give him that much. [tmz]

Mandela Recovering From Collapsed Lung – Former president Nelson Mandela is recovering from a collapsed lung and could be released from hospital as early as Friday, a source close to Mandela told Reuters on Thursday. The 92-year-old icon was admitted to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg on Wednesday for what his foundation described as routine tests. “Mandela was treated by military doctors and should be discharged tomorrow,” the source said, asking not to be named. [news24]

Djokovic Bounces Federer - A day after Rafael Nadal limped out of the Australian Open, Roger Federer followed him, although his exit visa was not stamped with an injury clause. We live in changing times. If Andy Murray is ever going to win a grand slam, a tournament stripped of the two greatest players of all time would be a good place to start. The only problem is, if he beats the softest option in the surviving group, David Ferrer, in his semi-final tomorrow night, standing across from him on Sunday will be Novak Djokovic in all his intimidating pomp. [guardian]

Will Smith & Jay Z To Remake Annie - Overbrook Entertainment partners James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are partnering with Jay-Z to release movies. One of the first projects they’re discussing is a remake of the Broadway classic “Annie,” in which the Smiths’ daughter, Willow, 9, would star. Jay-Z sampled the tune “It’s a Hard Knock Life,” from the “Annie” musical, in his hit “Hard Knock Live (Ghetto Anthem).” [timeslive]

PayPal Hackers Arrested – Five men have been arrested over a spate of recent web attacks carried out in support of Wikileaks. The five males are being held after a series of arrests at residential addresses in the West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey and London this morning. The men were arrested in relation to “recent and ongoing” attacks by an online group that calls itself “Anonymous”. Targets included the websites of PayPal, Mastercard and Amazon. [bbc]

McDonalds University More Exclusive Than Harvard - “Go, go, go,” yells their Taiwanese teacher, exhorting them to work for the prize, a box of Danish butter cookies, for being the first to build the company’s trademark Golden Arches. Above their heads is a sign that reads: “Learning today, leading tomorrow.” The thick green binders stuffed with paperwork on each of the 31 students’ desks indicate the next activity may not be as rousing. This is McDonald’s Hamburger University in China, and it can be harder to get into than Harvard. [bloomberg]

Allen Stanford Unable To Stand Trial - Financier Allen Stanford is incompetent to stand trial at this time over accusations that he led a $7 billion fraud, a U.S. judge in Texas ruled on Wednesday. Stanford, who had been accustomed to jetting around the globe in private aircraft, was indicted in 2009 on 21 counts including securities fraud and money laundering. U.S. prosecutors accuse him of creating false accounting records, lying to investors and bribing a regulatory official in Antigua. [reuters]

Egypt Loses The Internet - Reports are emerging that Internet has gone down in Cairo and throughout Egypt, only hours before the largest planned protests yet. According to a report from The Arabist, “Egypt has shut off the internet.” Multiple Internet Service Providers are affected according to the report. The news of the Internet outage came minutes after the Associated Press published a video of an Egyptian protestor being shot. [huffpo]

Pagani Unveils The Huayra – Pagani has finally revealed its much rumoured and much anticipated successor to the Zonda: the Pagani Huayra., named after the Argentinean god of wind. The new supercar is powered by an AMG-sourced 6.0-liter biturbo V12 engine with over 700 hp (522 kW / 710 PS) and 1000 Nm (737 Nm) of torque. The top speed is claimed to be over 370 km/h (235mph) and 0-100 km/h is expected to take just 3.2sec. [luxuo]

Will Ferrell Joins ‘The Office’ - “The Office” is bringing in a big name to help in the transition surrounding Steve Carell’s departure. Will Ferrell will guest on several episodes of the show later this season. Ferrell — who co-starred with Carell in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” — will play a fellow Dunder Mifflin/Sabre manager who comes to Scranton and proves to be just as clueless as Michael (Carell) is. NBC hasn’t said yet when Ferrell will make his first appearance, but it sure sounds as though the character will be part of the story involving Michael’s departure. [latimes]

Hitlers Bodyguard Is Tired OF Fan Mail - More than 65 years after World War Two, Adolf Hitler’s last surviving bodyguard says that he can no longer respond to the continuous deluge of fan mail he receives from around the world because of his advanced age. Rochus Misch is 93 and uses a walking frame to move around his apartment. He told the Berliner Kurier tabloid that, with most of the letters he receives asking for autographs, it was “no longer possible” to reply because of his age. [reuters]

Gone, baby gone..

The nature of the iPad is that it fits very snugly with the other magazines in the magazine rack in front of you on the plane. I told La Muse of my dilemma and, interestingly enough, she asked why I took the iPad out on the plane in the first place. Hmm, yes, exactly why did I do that? After some thought, I assured her that the mere nature of the iPad, given it’s size (that of a magazine) and it’s function (consuming media including magazines, books, music, TV shows and movies) makes it probably the most desirable item for anyone in the world to have whilst traveling on a plane. In fact, if I had a choice between not having an iPad on a plane, and having an iPad on plane whilst someone shoots a staple gun up my ass once every half an hour for the duration of the flight, I would choose the latter.

The feeling of hopelessness and emptiness continued as I returned to the radio studio the next day and ran the story by the crew. Bruce Good, my Friday show co-host came up with a novel idea, which I went ahead with. It had to do with pure and utter confidence – and that is what I want to tell you about.

I was traveling home that Friday and I called 0861 KULULA. Surprisingly, someone answered. That’s when I went for this vibe:

“Hi there, I left my iPad on flight MN105 from Schweeberg to Cape Town on Tuesday arvee, and I need to know where I can pick it up.”

=>> Note how I didn’t use words like, “I think” and “can you check.” I told them that it was a FACT that I had left it on the plane and assumed they would have found it and have it locked up for me.

The woman on the other end asked me to hold and came back, telling me very matter-of-factly, “Yes Mr. Rotherham, the iPad is in the safe waiting for you at the airport – you can fetch it anytime.”

HOW RADICAL IS THAT?

I didn’t act surprised at all, pretending this was all quite normal. I said goodbye and promised to pop-in that weekend.

So on Sunday morning I rolled a light joint, put on my tartan trakkie pants and lumo mirror-shades, and headed off to the airport. And there it was, with 1% battery life left. Shame, the little beauty was clearly a bit shaken – so I took her home and put her on a nice slow charge.

So good to have her back.

Well done to you, Kulula – and to everyone else, I strongly urge you phone lost property when you lose things. The guy at the airport that helped me, confirmed that people leave SO much stuff, it is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the amount of people that phone to see if their stuff has been found. Hardly anyone apparently. And it all gets burnt after 6 months.

Ok, maybe not burnt – that was a bit elaborate – but they get rid of it after 6 months.

Naturally, this is all covered in The Secret.

Yes it’s true that you can stream 2oceansvibe Radio on your smartphone just by going to www.2ov.fm, but we have a special new treat for the 2oceansvibe iPhone users out there.

Finally we have developed the 2oceansvibe iPhone app!

The app is free and you can CLICK HERE to check it out and download it now!

Now you can get LIVE 2oceansvibe Radio, anytime you want, with just 1-click!

We will be adding more functions to the app as time goes by, including live song titles, 2oceansvibe News Feed, Twitter Feed, What’s Hot and more!

A MASSIVE thank you goes out to our app developers, Marc and Juliaan at Appink (www.appink.net) – they come highly recommended! (Mention 2oceansvibe for special discount

And if you don’t yet have an iPhone, remember to get yours with a special 2oceansvibe discount from Digicape.

Anyone who knows a thing or two about the intricacies and nuances of life as a Sumo Wrestler (pfft, who doesn’t?) will understand that the Sumo is a creature bred for power, weight, and a surprising degree of flexibility.

But they’re definitely not bred for texting, or email, or any other action that involves a moderate degree of fine-finger motor skills. Piano Concertos, for example, are completely out.

It’s not because Sumos are kinetic retards. Far from it. It’s just that the beefy chaps (and girls) find it a touch frustrating managing the process of punching keys any smaller than a R5 coin, owing to their full-figured-fingers (I shotgun this phrase pre-emptively for use as a biscuit brand name).

Thus, in their tech-wisdom, Sumo Stable Managers in Japan are dishing out iPads to their chunky warriors in an effort to maximise their ease of communication.

Just because you weigh 200 kilograms doesn’t mean you don’t have a right to be plugged in.

[Source : IOL]

Sydney Restaurant, Mundo Global Tapas, may have a silly sounding name, but they are rocking the their technological potential as an eatery.

Picture this:

You walk into a restaurant, and instead of being handed the usual crusty leather-bound tome of a menu fitted with pseudo-brass corners, you’re handed an iPad.

You think, “Cool! A pre-drinks toy!”

“Aha, but monsieur,” says the front of house, “it is so much more. Please, play with my application.”

For a moment you’re flattered, until you realise he’s talking about the restaurant’s iPad app, the one that lets you browse their menu, investigate preferable wine pairings, make any notes for food preparation (rare, medium, so overcooked it’s not worth eating, etc), and place your order, all with the tactile swish of the finger.

Now THAT is a restaurant experience that I can get behind.

I wonder if they know about iPad Dummies…Perhaps used as food hotpads?

But I’ve got to say, they’re pretty brave. It wouldn’t be the first time a customer went home with a menu.

[Sauce (oh yes) : GoTravel24]

iPad dummies are available for $49, no word of lies. Yep, that’s 100% genuine fake replica right there. The dimensions are exactly the same, the weight is similar, and the plastic of the replica bears a striking resemblance to the metal and glass of the real deal. But, sadly, the brains are all missing.

Where can you get them? iPadDummy.net, of course.

What can you do with them? Well, now you’re just asking for trouble. Here are seven basic ideas.

1. Serve food on it.
2. Smash it in a public place.
3. Glue it to the pavement/Vida table/top of your car.
4. Use it as a frisby in your boardroom.
5. Commit insurance fraud (“But I dropped it in the pool!”)
6. Take it to the Waterfront Apple iStore and ask why it doesn’t work.
7. Just carry it around for the sake of posing.

Although, I do believe the most important question is, will it blend?

[Source : iPad News Daily]

While we’re on the subject, how does 13 quid for 26 issues of Rolling Stone magazine sound? R150 for 12 issues of Rolling Stone! Come on, man – you’re having a laugh!

Sorry, back to the point of the story – so I haven’t been focussing on iPhone apps for a while. That was before I visited Barnet Fair for a haircut last week (you gotta check this place out – PROPER barber vibe near &Union on Bree Street – old-school barber chairs, vinyl records, barber pole etc. So the owner, Steven Pitt (no spice) show me this app, called “FatBooth.” those of you who know the app “OldBooth” should be told that this puts OldBooth to shame! Check it out – this is what it did to my vibe, as we considered what would happen if I ate all the pies.

Seth thoroughly enjoys pastry and deep-fried foods

Absolutely AWESOME result! How bad does the very spaced-out facial hair look? God, it’s great! Old Steven from Barnett Fair reckons he ran it by a more overweight friend of his who absolutely flipped when he did it for him, lamenting that the app is only truly humorous when used on leaner people.

Fair enough.

The above pic is very different to this portrait that Cape Town photographer, Morne Van Zyl did of me.

Just to fill you in, Morne is working on a “Portrait Project” and has been snapping pics of all sorts of people around Cape Town – many of whom you will recognise. You might even find Die Antwoord there..

I think it’s a great initiative and the guy clearly knows what he is doing. Go check out his website and see if you recognise anyone.

So anyway, the iPad.. I’ll tell you one thing, besides the movies and the TV shows (I have a US iTunes account, do you?) and magazines (before they hit the shelves overseas) including Vanity Fair, GQ, Hello!, Rolling Stone, Wallpaper, Maxim, TIME, OK, NatGeo and, of course, Harpers Bazaar, French Vogue and Marie Claire for The Muse, I can confirm that I read my first BOOK in a very long time – on my iPad.

Ja you heard me.

It stands to reason that there has been over three million sold in less than three months..

But that’s not the reason for this article..

That’s the reason for this article! The brand new made-for-chicks-but-I-just-don’t-care Gucci Cover will EASILY make you a better person. And if that tan colour is not your vibe, never fear – they have grey and black as well!

Fashionistas take note! If you have a passion for fashion and don’t mind spending several hundred dollars on a case to protect you iPad, check out the swanky new cases from Gucci. Keeping with Gucci’s tradition, each case will have the signature GG design. They will also include a Velcro strap closure to hold your iPad securely in place and a suede lining to keep it in mint condition.

[more]

Jeez, that’s enough, doll – you had me at “fashionistas!”

Would you like that cover inside you?

It’s simple. Land a small win on the overseas lotteries, buy your iPad, then get the cover.

You see, I was rubbing my new iPad against my body and accidentally opened up the TIME Magazine app. It’s a much celebrated iPad app and you can see why. This pic was captured as one of their five best pics of the week.

Spotted on TIME magazine iPad app

God it’s so sad.

In case you didn’t know, the oil spill is now officially the biggest natural disaster in US history. Nice one, BP. I thought you liked to keep us moving? Now you’re stopping animals in their tracks..

[source:TIME]

iPad courtesy of Digicape.

Not this time. I found this little gem which will be very handy for our 2010 WC visitors wanting to take a break and catch a flick.

Naviflix - that’s clever..

You know when you want to watch a particular movie and you want to know where the nearest cinema’s are showing that movie? Well this app takes care of it.

It’s such a genius way of making use of the iPhones hi-tech features.

Either you can search for the nearest cinema, which the app does, using your GPS and working out where the nearest cinema is to you.

OR you can type in a movie name and it will tell you where the nearest cinema is showing that particular movie AND what times the movie is showing!

I rate it.

Get it.

And if you don’t have an iPhone yet, get it at Digicape (order your new iPad while you’re at it).

First I popped in at Caprice to try out the 2oceansvibe cocktail:

Cafe Caprice on Google Maps “Street View”
Nice day they were having when they shot that!

Mmm, that was good!

Follow the link to see where else I went and also learn how to do this on your own computer or iPhone or iPad!

So off I went to Green Point to check out my Primary Residence, The Cape Royale Hotel.

Lookin’ good!

The Cape Royale Hotel
Seth’s Primary Residence

Here are some others:

“Miss K”, just a bit further down the road in the opposite direction
(same side of the road)

“Mabu Vinyl” – just opposite Kloof vida e (2 Rheede Street)

It’s so awesome!

Want to learn how to do it yourself? Ok..

HOW TO USE STREET VIEW YOURSELF:

Using a computer, Click here to go to Google Maps.

Type in an address in the box – eg. 53 Victoria road, camps bay, cape town.

Press Enter.

Click the little “A” symbol that appears:

Then click “street view.”

BANG! You’re “A” for “AWAY!”

If you’re on your iPhone or iPad, then simply click the “Maps” app (bottom right of below screenshot).

Then search for any address and, when you see the little man appear in the orange circle, click that little man!

And there you have it – you are cruising around Cape Town without moving an inch. Pretty much what you do anyway!

Aah yes, these are wonderful times. If you don’t have an iPhone or haven’t booked your iPad yet, be sure to zip over to Digicape and make it happen!

Your move, Blackberry people..

Shaun obviously caught my barrage of tweets, as I sat in The Safe House, somewhat tweaked, listening to Nirvana on vinyl and playing with my new toy!

This is what that particular iPad app let’s you do:

Ever wish you had an extra display for your computer? There’s an app for that! With Air Display, you can use your iPad as a wireless display for your Mac OS X computer. Developed by Avatron Software, home of the popular Air Sharing apps, Air Display lets you position your iPad next to your computer, drag windows onto it, and interact with those windows as you would on any other computer display.

[more here]

That’s how I’m rolling at the moment..

As you can see, I am not shy to use a few screens! I find it useful having one screen for only a few applications. I know I can flip through different windows, but I prefer to do eight things at once. For example, I keep emails, calendar and Photoshop on the left screen, browser and iTunes and Tweetdeck on the middle screen and now, with this new app, I put my blogging software (and this current article) on the new baby screen – my iPad!! And it does it all through the air!! I trust you also enjoy the iPad’s folding cover, that doubles up as a stand!

I should just add that, although you might think it’s overkill, I closed about ten other windows and simplified the whole process dramatically for that shot!

So anyway, that’s not the point of this article. The point of this article is that I gave his tweet to me a “retweet,” and left it at that. Until I got this very encouraging tweet from Shaun later on that day.

Very cool – thanks Shaun!

Follow Shaun Trennery on Twitter here.

And follow 2oceansvibe on Twitter here.

Thanks for tuning in!

[disappears - in a puff of smoke]

This obviously has a lot to do with the fact that the article comes in Google’s Top 5 for the search phrases, “cape town istore,” “cape town apple mac,” and “waterfront istore” (among others). As a result, 3,880 people have found the article in Google search results – without going through 2oceansvibe. ie. they went directly to the article from Google.

No apologies..

Because of this very high ranking for such broad search phrases, the comments section never really dies, and has so far received  153 comments! Wowsers – that’s a lot of interactivity and a helluva a long time and excessively high stats and figures, for a company to not respond. No, they never did. Nor did they attend to the copious amounts of people moaning in the comments section – the perfect forum to fix problems and tend to customer complaints.

Surely that must be some kind of record? You know, in terms of companies that don’t give a toss?

Be sure to check some of the most recent comments, including the one about their employees advising customers to rather buy their equipment at the shop next door.

Stunning – absolutely stunning!

Here’s to the next 12 months!

See you at Digicape.

Needless to say, Louis Vuitton have come up trumps with their range of iPad covers.

Just LOOK at these beauties!

I would probably take the one on the left, although a naughty part of me wants the one on the right.

I just know it will bring me closer to God.

[thanks charl]

Congratulations Deán Stassen!

2oceansvibe.com is VERY at home on the new Apple iPad

Apparently 2oceansvibe is “a joke” on the new iPad, and people have been spotted licking the device, as the big 2OV gives itself a stretch in the iPad browser.

It won’t be long until I too will have the future in my hands from Digicape and then you can touch me on my iPad.

But not only that, it’s also tons of fun. Maybe this will help you get into it?

Do you think your iPad would make a great gaming device? Apparently the folks over at ThinkGeek think so too, as they’ve come up with the iCade concept accessory. It’s actually an arcade cabinet for your iPad, allowing you to slide in your iPad, docking it on the iCade, giving it traditional arcade controllers, and making the whole setup resemble the arcade machines from your younger days.

Once docked, launch the dedicated iCade app that will offer your classic games, and you’re good to go! Obviously you’re going to have long gaming sessions on this setup, since you’re reminiscing, and that’s why the docking station also allows you to charge your iPad at the same time, ensuring that you’ll never have to take a break from your gaming sessions. Would you buy this is it were turned into an actual product?

[more here]

Come on… that is AWESOME! And yes. The answer is YES, I would buy it.

I’d buy two, so that one will get to me sooner than the other.

[thanks simon]