Watch Live Tv on your IPod Touch

I was asked to post this by my friends at they say not many people would know about it, So i decided to do a little guide of how to do it. Firsty open up safari on your IPod touch and search for Iphone.tvcatchup.com it will take you to a site which you can view most of the British Freeview channels using quicktime player.

When you find the page you will need to make an account which is free, after registration you then have access to the following channels and more.

Hope this blog helped you as i think that all ipod and iphone users should know about this feature, I will note that i am not sure if this feature is available outside of the UK.

Thanks for your time and interest in my blog and my IPod Touch tips.

StrangeyD

Guide to Jailbreak Apps for IPod Touch & IPhone: Part 3 Custom Text instead of "IPod"

Custom Text instead of "IPod"

You will probably of noticed on the screenshots which i have posted for the previous posts in this guide that in the upper left corner of the IPod screen where it normally has "IPod" it now says StrangeyD.

To do this modification you will need the following apps:

- Cydia

- Make It Mine

When you search for the Make It Mine app type into the search with no spaces like MakeItMine.

When you have the app open you will see the "carrier" button in the left corner and banner in the right corner. To change the Text where "IPod" normally is click the "carrier" button then type the desired text you wish to replace it with in the box and click re spring.

This App is for the IPod Touch user who wishes to add a bit of personality to the IPod home screen, though not much use it still looks good and makes the IPod truly feel like yours.

Thanks for your time and interest in my blog, Part 4: Watching TV on your IPod Touch will be posted tomorrow.

StrangeyD

Guide to Jailbreak Apps for IPod Touch & IPhone: Part 2 Five Icon Dock

Five Icon Dock

This is not a hard customization to do but can be helpful as it allows you to have five icons on the dock of the IPod Touch, then you can rearrange your apps so your favourite apps can be found on the dock.

You will only need the app Cydia for this guide:

Once you have Cydia open search for the Five Icon Dock when downloaded you will not need to access Winterboard unlike when installing the icons from the previous part of this guide.  Once you have installed the Five Icon Dock the device will re spring and when it completes you should have the five icons in your dock.

Your home screen should now have five icons like my screenshot below:

Now you can feel free to arrange the apps however you please :)

Thanks for your time and Interest in my blog, Part three: Custom Text instead of "IPod" will be posted soon.

StrangeyD

Guide to Jailbreak Apps for IPod Touch & IPhone: Part 1 Icons

Most IPod Touch users and IPhone users never delve into the world of Jailbreak apps for fear of bricking their device, for the ones that take the chance open up a world of customization and homebrew apps that are very helpful.

 You can see in the screenshots that i  took of my IPod Touch that using jailbroken apps you can customize almost any part of the IPod Touch GUI.

 Heres a few which i will cover here:

- Different Home Screen Icons

- Five Icon Dock

- Custom Text instead of "IPod" in top left corner

- Background applications

So let me begin with the Different Home Screen Icons for the example i will use the icons i currently use for this guide, the apps you will need on your IPod Touch are:

-Cydia app which can be seen in the picture to the bottom left.

-Winterboard which is used for alot of the customization.

Ok Firstly you will need to open Cydia and use the search function to locate HD Icons that i have ticked.

Once you have downloaded the HD Icons you will need to go into the winterboard app seen below:

When you open winterboard you will see Select Themes open this and click on HD Icons from the list and then click the winterboard button in the upper left corner at this point your IPod will respring and after a minute or so will go to the home screen. Now you should have the new HD Icons, using this guide you can also select other icons just substitute the icons you prefer from cydia and activate them the same way as above. If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask :)

Part two: Five Icon Dock should be posted later today.

Thanks for your time and interest in my blog


StrangeyD

How To Stop Ipod Touch Battery Draining!

A short while back when i first got my Ipod Touch 8G the battery life on it was amazing, it would charge to 100% then would retain power on standby mode for days on end. With all the battery draining features on such as notifications, screen brightness and location services the battery would still have a decent few days life.

Over the past few months i noticed that the battery was starting to deplete while in standby mode more than ever before. I could charge the Ipod Touch then put on standby mode and carry on with my day, only to go to use my Ipod Touch and realise that the battery was dead.

At first i believed that the battery was faulty or broken, but after doing a bit of reading found that there were a few apps out that can help Ipod Touch battery's return to their 100% charge capability. After a short search on the app store I found a brilliant little battery app which featured in my Top 5 Essential Apps post, Battery Doctor Pro . After following all the steps in the app i was hopeful that this would fix the battery, the app did indeed fix the battery's charge capacity but the battery was still getting severely drained when in standby mode.

I then tried the following steps which online battery saving tips had suggested so i began the process of elimination:

 Notifications i turned off because when in standby mode this service remains very much activated and using the wifi to check your applications for notifications. Especially if you have allot of apps on your Ipod Touch all of which deliver some form of notification that is why i thought this was the battery draining culprit. 
 After testing turning this service off did not make much of a difference to the battery life as it was still being drained.

 The second option i tried was the back light brightness, as you can see in the picture, i proceeded to turn auto-brightness off and lowered the brightness level as low as i could while still being able to see the screen properly. Like as before this did not have much effect on the battery, as it was still being drained and getting quite puzzling. i decided to leave this setting as it is until i finished all the options i wanted to try.

Location Services i turned off because if you have social apps that use location services it is being used when in standby mode when near an active wifi point. This gave as much change in battery status as the previous two options gave, so i was very puzzled as too what the culprit could be.













 After a few days of testing i finally worked out what was causing this draining, it is all down to the wifi. Whether using the wifi or not it is still activated in the settings and when ever an active access point is found the Ipod Touch begins to try to connect and if successful will start to communicate with it. All the while you may have it on standby and not being used it is still using valuable battery time. 

So i tested the theory:

  On day one i charged the Ipod Touch to full charge and left the wifi on while on standby. The next day after being left on standby for the previous night it was completely dead, i was hoping to of got a screenshot before the battery was dead to show it at its depleted stage but to no avail.
  On day three i Fully charged the battery again but this time i activated the Airplane mode which when active stops your Ipod Touch from using its wifi. The next day after being left on standby with airplane mode active the battery was full, it looked as though it had not lost any battery life at all.






This is where to find Airplane mode for those who don't know where it is:

  When the airplane mode is turned off as you can see the wifi is active and connected to my home router.

When airplane mode is activated it automatically turns off the wifi and in doing so saves a very significant amount of  battery life.


















Conclusion: 

If you are having trouble with your Ipod Touch battery life being drained the best bit of advice i can offer is when not in use and in your pocket turn on airplane mode and believe me you will see the difference.  Hope this blog helped you enjoy using your Ipod touch again as it did for me, thanks for your time and interest in my blog.


Keep up with blog updates on Twitter!


StrangeyD

Top 5 Most Essential Iphone Apps

Top 5 Essential Apps

These days there seems like there are apps for anything and everything and more and more are being released all the time. With apps being all the rage at the moment i thought it would be a good idea to do an essential Top 5 of what i find to be the the most useful apps to the average IPhone user.

1. Battery Doctor Pro - This app is to me essential to anyone who wants to keep their IPhone battery in top condition, as over time IPhone battery's lose their ability to charge to 100%. This app allows you to perform a full cycle charge which brings your battery back up to 100% of its charge ability. This app is available from the App Store for £0.59 so a small price to pay for a healthy battery.
Battery Doctor Pro on App Store

2.Twitter & Facebook - Whether your a Twitter or Facebook fan these mobile versions are essential apps for the IPhone social networking fan, both apps incorporate the basic layout and features of their parent websites while still remaining just as easy to use regardless of being mobile versions. Both apps are available from the App Store for free, Bargain!
Facebook on App Store
Twitter on App Store

3.Ebay - One of my favourite apps for the IPhone, never miss out on an auction again. With this app you can buy and sell from wherever you are, never miss that auction again because you weren't at home. Most avid users of Ebay's website will find the app relatively easy to use as most of the websites features are accessible via the app. This app is available from the App Store for Free.
Ebay on App Store

4.Fring - A great little app that you can make video and voice calls over 3G and Wifi, also has allot of other neat features like the ability to access Msn Messenger. This was one of the first apps that i got for my IPhone and it has remained firmly on there till this day. I would recommend this app to anyone and with it being free at the App Store its even better.
Fring on App Store

5.Amazon Mobile - Very neat and useful app, everything you get with the website in a mobile version for all your shopping needs on the move, also comes with a bar code scanner so it has never been easier to check if amazon has an item cheaper. I myself use this app allot for most of my online shopping needs so i would definitely recommend it to other IPhone users. This app is available from the App Store for Free.
Amazon Mobile on App Store

There you have it my Top 5 Essential IPhone apps for making your life easier to live. I am well aware that out of all the apps available it may seem weird to pick just five, many people will argue that there are other apps some better some worse than the ones presented here but the reason i find these picks better and why i am promoting them is because they are mostly free apps that perform like paid ones.

Thanks for your time and interest in my blog, Hope to see you again.

StrangeyD

Why F1 cant fix the overtaking problem

This is my first blog regarding Formula 1 and the topic i have chosen has been on my mind for some time and it is regarding the overtaking problem which fans and Formula 1 management have began to notice since the early 90's.  Since this problem was realised there has been alot of ideas on how overtaking could be improved in F1, but none of the ideas have really worked out as planned and i believe it is due to the one thing which makes Formula 1 the pinnacle of motor sport.. Technology!!

At this point you are probably thinking "what?" but please hear me out, most F1 fans will tell you that from the 1950's right up until the late 1980's early 1990's was some of the best times for overtaking in F1 with great names standing out for their overtaking skill. This is why i feel overtaking has become a somewhat recent problem in F1, and next i will explain why i think Technology is to blame.

Here is the picture of a 1950's F1 Steering Wheel (Credit to BBC for photo):

Notice the lack of buttons and switches on the steering wheel.

Now Lets Compare with 1980's F1 Steering Wheel:

Again You notice the lack of buttons and switches on the steering wheel.








Now lets compare with a current F1 Steering Wheel (Credit to BBC for Photo):

Now notice all the buttons and switches have slowly but surely started to increase since the late 1980's which is due to formula 1's craving for technical advancement.







Now when you think that a current formula 1 driver is making button and switch adjustments for most of a lap while also thinking about alot of other things:
- Gear Changes
- Distance to Cars ahead and behind
- Team Radio
- Brake Bias Adjustments

All of that while trying to overtake and potentially try to win the race, this is my point regarding the big difference between 1980's F1 and today's, the reason there is an overtaking problem it seems is that the drivers are being made to so much more over 1 lap than what their older counterparts had too, in reality they cant focus on overtaking alone.

Conclusion:

My final thoughts on this subject are that F1 has backed itself into a corner in regards to technology and overtaking, it would seem to have one you have to sacrifice the other, and now as we look forward to 2011 I see it being even harder to overtake with the reintroduction of Kers and the Move able Rear wings giving the drivers more buttons to press, it is also worthy to mention that a few drivers have already spoken out about the buttons and the workload it puts on the drivers in a race but most curiously no one has made the overtaking connection.

To Finalize More Technology = More Buttons = Less Overtaking

Thank You for Your Time and Interest in my blog.

StrangeyD

Introduction to My Blog

Hello my name is Darren Strange (aka StrangeyD) i am 23 years of age, i live in South Wales in the UK. I thought i would start a blog that would center around my love of Formula 1 & Technology while trying to remain unbaised. Topics and other things to expect range from new video game reviews, to the latest new Gadgets all the way to my thoughts on current Formula 1 issues and news.

I will be posting updates regularly and you can also follow me on twitter to receive blog updates at #StrangeyD

Thanks for your time, first proper blog to follow.

StrangeyD