Jones on Fire

An interesting new iOS game in the works. A Minecraft style 8-bit game about saving cats. Either way, this looks awesome and of course it has cats. Who doesn't love cats? Anyway, check out the teaser:



For more information about Jones on Fire and the development team behind it:
http://www.glassbottomgames.com/

Skyrim iPad Case

I love gimmicky products and as a gamer I love Skyrim. So an iPad case made to look like something out of Skyrim is a total win for me. I will be ordering me one of these from Etsy, I mean what is not to like about this?



The look had me getting tingly but the description had me clicking the Buy Now button:

Perfect for any Dovahkiin or fledgling Dragonborn to guard their digital treasures, this hand-crafted tome is bound with rich suede on the inside to ensure a luxurious fit. Wield your trusty Thu'um app against foes, explore the depths of human wisdom, gaze upon Elder Scrolls through your iPortal, and discern the transmundane in style. Will you walk the Path of Magic, the Path of Might, or the Path of Shadow? Only you can decide your fate.

Buy it on Etsy here.

How FaceTime saved my holiday

Some of you who read this site may have noticed that I have not been very active these last two months. You may have noticed that the weekly podcast has not been recorded lately and I am not doing nearly as many video demos, etc. I have a very good reason as to why my production on this site as come to a stand still. My father.

My father has a rare type of Leukemia, seems weird to refer to it as such. I mean isn't any type of Leukemia rare? Either way he has been battling for about 5 years now and he has been doing pretty good up until about 3 months ago. The last couple of months I have been driving to upstate New York to visit him in the hospital every few weeks and it has really started to take its toll and has become very mentally exhausting. Not that I mind or don't want to be there for him, but it has ruled my life and Total iPad is just a hobby that has been put on the back burner for the time being.

Anyway, the reason for me writing this is about the iPad and more importantly it is about FaceTime and how I used it to spend Christmas day with my father.

A couple of weeks before Christmas my father had a doctor appointment and his doctor told him he was too weak to travel. So my uncle asked about video chat and was that possible if he bought my father a laptop. Me being an iPad guy told him to scratch that laptop idea and lets get him an iPad instead. Both my uncle and my father are computer illiterate, neither of them own a computer or even a smartphone for that matter. So I knew the iPad would present the least amount of challenge as far as setting up the device etc. So my uncle went and bought him an LTE 16gb iPad mini.

Like I said my father didn't own a computer or a smartphone as matter of fact he didn't even have an email address. Could you imagine living in 2012 and not even having an email address? Anyway, I wasn't sure if FaceTime was available over cellular data with AT&T for FaceTime, so my uncle got the cable guy to come over there and install broadband internet and hook up a router for him.

My uncle goes and purchases the iPad and leaves the setting up an Apple ID to me. I go to Walmart and buy a $50 iTunes gift card. I then take one of my older iPads and wipe the Apple ID account info on it and then create a new Apple ID and an iCloud email address on the device and use the $50 gift card as my payment option. Now all my uncle had to do was power-on the iPad and go through the setup of the new iPad. When he got to the Apple ID part he just used the ID I created and that was it. My father was now the proud owner of not only an iPad mini but also an email address.

Christmas day is here. I am sure some of you may already be asking yourself why didn't I just go and visit my dad on Christmas day. Long story, short: I have a daughter who lives with her mother and our deal is I get her on Christmas evening. I am sure I could have made arrangements but I wanted my daughter to have a normal Christmas or as normal as possible. Anyway, I get my daughter that afternoon and called my father on FaceTime and we celebrated Christmas using our iPads. FaceTime worked flawlessly, the video quality was superb, and even though my father was hundreds of miles away he was still in my living room on Christmas day with me and my daughter. Matter of fact all of my family came over to his house that day and we ate dinner at the same time while we talked via FaceTime.

I know there are plenty of other technologies that work the same as FaceTime, but FaceTime was in my opinion the best option for my father to use. He didn't need to download or install any apps. He didn't need to create any additional accounts to use the service. I am very thankful for all these new technologies in general but I am super thankful for FaceTime for easing our time of pain and enabling my daughter and I to enjoy our holiday season as much as possible.

While I didn't use FaceTime that often before, I am glad FaceTime was there for me when I needed it the most. I now use FaceTime everyday to call my father and check in on him. Something that I didn't see much of a need for before has now become a Godsend. My father has fallen in love with is new iPad, so much so he is looking at buying an iPhone 5 now. Who knows, if he can get through his chemo and is able to put a hold on his sickness maybe next year he will be calling me on FaceTime from his new Macbook Air. Hopefully he will be sitting in the living with me and we won't need FaceTime on Christmas. My fingers are crossed!

Why developers should focus on iOS

The App Store℠ has over 500 million active accounts

Yesterday Apple released a press statement with some very impressive numbers attached. I am rather impressed at how well Apple has done but I am not surprised in the least. I think this year we will see the 1 millionth application in the app store. Currently that number resides at more than 775,000 app in the App Store.

"The revolutionary App Store offers more than 775,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in 155 countries around the world, with more than 300,000 native iPad apps available. App Store customers can choose from an incredible range of apps in 23 categories, including newspapers and magazines offered in Newsstand, games, business, news, sports, health & fitness and travel."


I wonder if any other "App" store can claim 500,000 active accounts? 500,000 active accounts with credit cards on file? Okay so maybe not 500,000 credit cards but I am assuming most of the 500,000 have credit cards attached to them.

COOKOO watch

It is with the greatest pleasure and excitement that we announce the availability of the COOKOO App on the Apple App Store, ready for download with immediate effect. The COOKOO App works with the latest Bluetooth Smart Ready iOS devices, including iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S, and iPad (4th generation) and iPad (3rd generation) that run on iOS 5 or 6.

Grab the App in the iOS App Store: COOKOO™ - Time to Connect - ConnecteDevice Limited

What's on my iPad?

I am frequently asked what are some of my favorite applications or applications that I would recommend. It is hard to recommend applications because everyone has a different need or they use their iPad a different way from the way I use my iPad. So instead of writing a post saying these are must have applications I figured I would upload a video of the applications that I use on a day to day basis. I have no problem recommending any of the applications seen in this video. If you are looking for a Twitter client then I recommend Tweetbot for the iPad, if you are looking for an RSS reader then I recommend Mr. Reader on the iPad.

Trouble viewing the video? View it on my YouTube channel.

Here are a few of the links to the reviews of some of the apps seen in the video:

Mr. Reader: http://totalipad.com/app/mr-reader-for-ipad/

30/30: http://totalipad.com/app/3030/

Day One: http://totalipad.com/app/day-one-journaldiary/

Downcast: http://totalipad.com/app/downcast/

Drafts: http://totalipad.com/app/drafts/

iA Writer: http://totalipad.com/ia-writer-review/

Pinnacle Studio: http://totalipad.com/pinnaclestudio/

Blogsy: http://totalipad.com/app/blogsy-for-ipad/

Pennant: http://totalipad.com/topps-pennant-review/

Clash of Clans: http://totalipad.com/clashofclans/

Kingdom Rush: http://totalipad.com/kingdom-rush-for-ipad/

Need For Speed: http://totalipad.com/need-for-speed-most-wanted/

Quotebook: http://totalipad.com/quotebook/

You can also find my iPad Wallpaper I talked about in the beginning of the video here: http://crizzo.net/post/39480780848/ipad-wallpaper

FIFA '13 for iPad

FIFA '13 for iOS is a universal application that will run on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. This is a great game and one of the most complete games you will find on an iOS device.



This video is just some simple game play footage. I am using AirPlay from my iPad to my iMac, I didn't realize that doing so would blackout the iPad screen other than the controls so it caught me off guard when I started recording as I am used to staring at my iPad while I play. One thing about AirPlay though is that when in AirPlay and the iPad screen goes black except for the controls, it is really hard to stare at the t.v. and use the iPad as a controller. I never know exactly where I am touching like I do with a real controller that has actual buttons. Not having any real feedback from the iPad makes it slightly difficult to a get a feel for using the iPad as a controller. Of course you don't have to use AirPlay and can enjoy the game only using the iPad which feels much more natural in my opinion.

Currently FIFA '13 is on sale in the App Store for only $0.99:
FIFA SOCCER 13 by EA SPORTS - Electronic Arts

REAL PLAYERS, REAL TEAMS, REAL LEAGUES
Featuring 30 leagues, 500 licensed teams, and more than 15,000 players. From the English Premiership and La Liga, to the German Bundesliga and beyond – take the superstars of football on the pitch in Quick Match, Manager or the brand new Online Multiplayer and Tournament game modes as you dominate your league and march toward glory in 32 authentic stadiums.