by Michael Sheehan on January 23, 2012
in Apple, application, Cellular, Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, HTD Tech Tip, iPhone, Mobile
For a few months now, I have been using the iPhone 4S and enjoying the wonders of Siri. There have been literally thousands of posts on tips and tricks that you can do with Siri (and I’m sure the one that I’m about to mention has been covered in some form or another). For those of you hiding under an anti-technology rock, Siri is a voice activated assistant that can help you find all sorts of information as well as act on a variety of voice commands.
So, I have been scratching my head on trying to find something “different” to use Siri for and I believe that I came up with something interesting and helpful – a spelling assistant.
I’m an absolute horrible speeler – sorry speller (groan). I am so lucky that spell check is built into just about every device around (computers & smart phones specifically). I’m more about simply getting the words down digitally and then fixing the errors after the content has flowed from my brain and to my fingers. Heck, I even type much faster than I can write (I hate hand-writing anything!). So, while it is nice that most words will be caught using a spell checker, sometimes you ARE actually hand writing something, or you know how a word sounds but for the life of you, can’t remember how it is spelled.
One time, after living a few months in Spain and speaking/thinking in Spanish, I actually forgot how to spell “of”. I had hand written “uv”. Wow! More recently, when I was typing out an article, I couldn’t remember how to spell “manure”. Whatever I typed, simply didn’t look right and when I tried to look it up in a Dictionary app, since I was so far off (e.g., “maneuare”) the Dictionary didn’t provide me any help.
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by Michael Sheehan on November 29, 2011
in Apple, application, Cellular, Consumer Electronics, Fix It, Gadgets, General, how to, HTD Tech Tip, iPad, iPhone, ipod, Mobile, Software
I kept hearing about how with iOS 5, you could set up Reminders that would trigger when you arrived or left a particular location. It’s a pretty neat concept. You can program in an address, like your work, and set up a series of to-dos that magically remind you when you are geographically near that location. Or perhaps, you are at a vacation home and need to have a checklist pop up as you leave the location (e.g., did you check to be sure the hot tub was set to low). It’s a smart use of GPS technology to let your brain focus on other items at hand.
So I was very excited to set up some shopping lists that would pop up when I arrived at my local supermarket. Only, I had a problem, I couldn’t figure out how to put in the additional geo-location details to my to-do’s or reminders (and I’m supposed to be good at this stuff). After a bit of digging, I figured it out (and I’m a bit surprised that Apple seemed to bury this functionality into the app).
Here are the steps to create and configure a Location-based reminder:
1) Create a new Reminder. Remember, choose an iCloud-related list. I tried to do this with a Task list that was synced with my Outlook/Exchange profile and the location setting does not show.
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by Michael Sheehan on October 17, 2011
in Apple, application, Cellular, Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, how to, iPad, iPhone, ipod, Mobile, Software
Last week I talked about a few new tidbits and tricks in Apple’s new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5 (enable Emoji keyboard, get the camera button to appear in the lock screen and how to launch the new built-in dictionary). I have 3 more pretty cool little tips and tricks this time around, namely: cellular data for purchases, custom vibrations and hourly & localized weather.
Use Cellular Data for Store Purchases
Now you don’t have to be restricted to just using a WiFi connection when downloading large apps. If you go into the Settings > Store there is a toggle to use a cellular network to download purchases.
Be careful though, if you have a large app, for example, you may hit some of your data caps (unless you have the grandfathered unlimited data plan like I do). It’s usually better to either download larger apps when you are connected to a WiFi network or by syncing to your computer. (Remember too, you can set up a wireless sync between your iOS device and your laptop and you can transfer purchases you make via that method.) [click to continue…]
by Michael Sheehan on October 14, 2011
in Apple, application, Cellular, Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, iPad, iPhone, ipod, Software
I keep uncovering lots of little surprises in Apple’s new iOS 5 software released this week for the iPhone & iPad. Yesterday, it was the activation of the camera button on the iPhone’s lock screen. This one is just as useful and is extremely helpful. Included in the OS is now a full-fledged dictionary (that even looks like the dictionary you would find on a Mac).
The dictionary seems to be enabled throughout the system which means that it is at your beck and call, whether you are reading an article in Safari or editing an email or document. While you can’t always get it to launch in all applications (for example, the Facebook and Twitter apps don’t seem to allow the “Define” button to launch because of the way the text is displayed and selected), most of the reading and writing applications do have this ability.
To activate the new built-in dictionary, simply press and hold briefly your finger on a word until it is highlighted. Then you will probably see “Copy” and “Define” (and some other options if you are editing an email, for example, like rich text formatting). Then just click on the Define button and the definition of the highlighted word will appear.
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