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Sharing thoughts and ideas on business, security and photographyiOS iDrifta users/buyers beware! iOS6.1 not compatible with iDrifta (currently), works fine with Drifta (wifi)
Posted on February 16, 2013Users of iDevices who own the iDrifta are on the rampage. Since the release of iOS 6.1 the iDrifta has not been working with the iPad/iPhone and DSTV have no useful response. They apologise and have no timelines for implementation of a solution. I have reached out to a few people I know but have received no response either.
The only bit of info is this “Announcement” on their website :
“Apple recently introduced the new iOS 6.1 version for its devices. In keeping in line with the various operating systems that we service, the Drifta is compatible with the new version and we are in the process of making the iDrifta compatible with iOS 6.1 soon.”
Not sure how that helps those users who can’t watch the test cricket or rugby. Seems unfortunate that DSTVMobile aren’t keeping up with the times and testing their products with those they claim to be compatible with.
Some relevant links :
- Keep checking the iStore. Let’s hope this is not a repeat of the Blackberry debacle.
- You can follow the irate stream of complaints on Hello Peter over here (swearing and ineffectual customer service response involved!)
- The thread on the DSTVmobile forum with the hapless Thulani saying much of nothing
- And on facebook where a nameless sap apologizes for “any inconvenience that may have been caused.” indeed. A non-functional product “may have” caused inconvenience? What a lame braindead response. Of course it has caused inconvenience, the darn thing don’t work!
Some Drifta/DSTV Mobile updates you may have missed
Posted on December 29, 2012Expanded coverage
Firstly, coverage has been expanded. The folks in East London can now enjoy the service. This is the first expansion of coverage in quite some time so this is good news. Personally I must confess to having had a concern that DSTV couldn’t attract enough customers to the mobile service and that we may never see an expansion of the service.
Take a look at the coverage map to see if your area is supported : Map
Windows Phone
Secondly, Windows Phone is now supported. This seems to cover devices (mostly Nokias) running Windows 7.5 and up. So this is really the Lumia 710, Lumia 800 and Lumia 900 (WP 7.5) and then (although not stated on the website or the store) the 820 and 920 (WP8). I have seen some compliants online that not all Windows Phone 8 Devices are supported.
More info for Windows Phone is on the DSTV Mobile website (here)
Symbian / Nokia
Thirdly, a whole lot of Nokia Symbian devices are supported. You can download the app from the OVI store if you have any of the following devices :
Touch : N8, C6, C7, E7, E6, N97, N97 Mini, X6, 5800 X-press Music
Keypad: E52, E63, E71, E72, E75, N95
More info for Symbian (Nokia) devices is on the DSTV Mobile website (here)
DSTV mobile application upgraded from Beta to final.
Posted on June 26, 2012DSTV mobile application upgraded from Beta to final. No real obvious changes in the release notes except for the statement below :
*** If you device is running Android 2.1 (Eclair) or your device has a processor slower than 800Mhz, please use the “DStv Mobile Decoder Eclair” version.
Same list of devices supported.
Link to the final application here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valups.tivit.app.finaldstv
Review of the iDrifta for iPad/iPhone/iPod touch
Posted on June 24, 2012Full disclosure : I have no affiliation to DSTV, DSTV Mobile or Multichoice. I write this blog in my spare time with no payment from any providers. The review unit was provided to me by the marketing agency working with DSTV Mobile and I thank them for it. I pay the monthly subscription fees on the Drifta devices I am using – including the iDrifta.
The iDrifta is a cute, small, convenient little device. As a Drifta for the iPad / iPhone / iPod touch (referred to as iDevice), this is brilliant. It is however restricted to just those devices.
I have in the past reviewed the original (wifi) Drifta and the USB Drifta. This review now focusses on the iDrifta. If you are wanting to use the Drifta with your PC, Blackberry, Mac, Android and your iDevice then right up front this is not for you. Take a look at the table over here to see which devices work with which Drifta’s to make that decision. If however your are primarily wanting a Drifta to use with your iDevice, then read on.
The iDrifta is about the size of a matchbox. On the top it has an Apple connector, on the bottom it has a micro USB for charging, with a soft loop of aerial around the port. Just above the micro USB is a single LED which lights up when the device is being charged.
Summary of Drifta compatibility : Which Drifta to get
Posted on June 23, 2012Now that there are 4 Drifta devices on the market it can be a little confusing as to which one to buy. The assumption often can be that each new one is better than the last, and this is definitely no the case. In truth, though each is slightly different in size and shape, they all provide the same functionality (mostly), same picture quality, and where they have a battery, similar battery life. The choice really comes down to which devices you want to use the Drifta with. The table below summarises this. Click on the device name for link to a full review.
| Walka | Drifta (WiFi) | USB Drifta | iDrifta | |
| Standalone | Yes | No | No | No |
| iPad/Phone/Touch*3 | No | Yes | No | Yes*3 |
| Windows PC | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mac | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Blackberry | No | Partial*1 | No | No |
| Android | No | Yes*2 | No | No |
*1 There are limited devices which are supported by Blackberry and this support is Beta only. Be careful, newer Blackberry devices are not supported. (Link here to supported devices)
*2 Android support is also not universal, it is device specific. Many devices are supported but check before you buy. (Link here to supported devices)
*3 If your iDevice is jailbroken you will play Cat and Mouse with DSTV as by default the application won’t work. With a little help from a friend it will work on current versions (and some past versions) but going forward there are no guarantees it will work. (Link to jailbreak information here)
iDrifta quick start guide (images)
Posted on June 17, 2012Images of the two pages of the iDrifta quick start guide included with the device. The full unboxing of the device can be found here. Review to follow.
Click through for the two pages of the guide.
iDrifta unboxing and some initial comments – with lots of pictures
Posted on June 17, 2012Review of iDrifta here. Unboxing continues below.
I was confused last week when my mom called me to say that a parcel had just been delivered to her house for me. I asked her to open it for me since I wasn’t expecting anything and didn’t have a clue what is was. I was quite delighted when she told me it was an iDrifta. Neither DSTV mobile nor their marketing company had told me there were sending me one for review so it was really an unexpected surprise. This is the second time they have sent me one of their new products to review (the USB Drifta was also provided for review) so thank you once again to DSTV mobile for being so kinda as to send this through, and for the nice red ribbon and accompanying letter. Just in time for Fathers day 
This post is the “unboxing”, the review will come later. I called their call centre earlier to activate the device, but now 3 hours later it’s still not activated. I don’t much feel like spending more time on the line to the call centre (that last call was 15m+) so decided to write this up instead and try again with the call centre later. Enjoy this for now, will link to the review later.
More Android love from DSTVmobile. 19 more devices. Well done DSTVmobile!
Posted on June 02, 2012Another update has been made of the Beta android application for the Drifta. You can get it here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dstvmobile.app.decoder
This application now works on a wide range of Android devices running on Android 2.2, 2.3, 3.x and 4.x (with hardware buttons). So Gingerbread, Honeycomb and IcecreamSandwich are all supported now.
The full list is below. With the extent of changes I have been a bit lazy to pull out only the new devices. On the tweet announcing this @neilinspace indicated that 19 more have been added from the last version of the Beta, I will take his word for it. The list is now quite impressive, most device owners should be happy, including those lucky enough to have picked up the new Galaxy SIII or one of the new HTC One devices.
Well done DSTVmobile!
Now please can we get some Blackberry love? I know the platform is dying but I really would like some support on the Bold 9900.
Click through for the Full list:
DSTVmobile launch a cute new iDrifta for the iPhone/iPad
Posted on June 01, 2012Update : DSTV mobile sent me one of these to review. Some of my comments below are inaccurate. Take a look at the “unboxing” post here : Unboxing of iDrifta with lots of pictures and comments. Review can be found here.
Today DSTVmobile announced a cute new iDrifta specifically for the Apple iPhone and iPad devices. The iDrifta is styled to match your iDevice and is diminutive in size compared to the previously available Driftas. The new device seems to be powered directly from the iDevice so no worries about keeping it charged and waiting for when you need it. It comes with an inbuilt Apple dock connector so no cables to fiddle with or lose.
Image “stolen” from the DSTV website
Being built specifically for iDevices has both pros and cons. Up to now iPhone/iPad users only had the option of the wi-fi Drifta which didn’t plug directly into the iDevice and required you to connect over wi-fi, losing your internet connection in the process. Since the Drifta client application doesn’t multi task or suspend this wasn’t a big deal. Switching out to check mail or an incoming notification would have killed the client app anyway and you would have to wait 20 to 30 seconds to reload the app and have it pick up signal again, not very practical.
It is doubtful the new iDrifta solves this problem, although you may be able to stay connected to the internet and get your notifications, so switching apps you would have seen a notification and know for sure there is something for your attention.
I often find myself watching sport on the iPad as it has the perfect size screen for DSTVmobile. Any bigger and the picture gets really blocky. Being a bit ADHD I like to do a couple of things at once so after a while I tend to hook the Drifta up to the laptop and surf the net on the iPad. With this new device that flexibility would be lost – you can use it only with the iDevice.
Still, for those who want a Drifta to use on the go with the iPhone or iPad, this looks like a really good option. It will be available in 10 days time from the normal outlets.
As always, officially the device doesn’t support jailbroken iPhone/iPads. It is unclear which version of the Drifta software on the iDevice supports the iDrifta, so the current hacked versions floating around probably won’t work. Buyer beware.
I have sent some questions to Maiyo at DTSVmobile, so hope to provide more information and perhaps do a full review later.
Justin
Press Release below after the jump
Major update of DSTV Android client (30 new devices)
Posted on May 25, 2012Without much fanfare DTSV Mobile have snuck out a “beta” release of their Drifta client software for Android devices. This is a mammoth release (compared to prior ones) and now supports an extra 30 odd devices covering a number of different manufacturers including :
- Sony (XPeria Range – X10, Play, Ray, Active, Pro, S, Arc, Neo, Pro)
- LG (Otimus range, Prada, Tablet)
- Motorola (MB860, Atrix, RAZR)
- Vantium (V1)
- Huawei (Ideos X5, U8800)
- HTC (Flyer and Sensation)
There are also a couple of extras on the Honeycomb and Standard release, nothing major though.
Check out the full supported device listing in the FAQ : j-j.co.za/gofaq on supported devices. Don’t forget that rooted devices can be made to work using OTA Rootkeeper.
Thanks to DSTV Product Development manager @neilinspace for tweeting about the update, even though I did miss it for a week or two 
Resizer for DSTV Drifta windows client 1.3.15 (and v1.3.40)
Posted on May 12, 2012A lot of people ask for a way to resize the viewing windows of the DSTV Drifta on the PC. One of the early versions was “hacked” to allow this to happen but DSTV quickly released new versions which were encrypted and employed other methods to prevent hacking and re-sizing. Since then we have had to resort to using windows zoomers of various natures, and while this has been useful it isn’t the same as being able to drag the window to the desired size.
Updates to the “Unofficial DStv Drifta FAQ”
Posted on November 26, 2011There has been quite a bit of Drifta related news over the last while so I have added more questions and updated sections of the FAQ. The main changes have been :
- Blackberry availability
- Mac OS X availability
- Updates to Android compatibility list
- Walka handheld TV
DStv mobile streaming solution for MTN users (better than previous Vodacom one)
Posted on November 16, 2011Yesterday I received a press release from DStv Mobile about a new partnership with MTN to launch a 3G streaming Mobile TV Service. At first I wasn’t very excited about this, they have a similar product with Vodacom, which at first sounded interesting but was hamstrung by a ridiculous acceptable usage agreement which restricts you to 45 minutes per week (180 per month). That doesn’t even get you through a single T20 game, and hardly through two rugby matches. Crazy indeed.
On receiving the press release I immediately fired off a mail to Maiyo checking what the acceptable use of the new solution was. If it was the same (or similar) to the Vodacom one I wasn’t going to bother posting about it as it wouldn’t in my opinion be worth the subscription.
I am very happy to say that the response is a very positive one, no bandwidth / usage restrictions. You will use your own bandwidth to browse to the MTN Play website and get the video stream running, but you won’t pay for or be restricted in usage of the video stream itself. What a different that makes. For those who don’t want to buy a DStv Drifta, or have the hassle of carrying a second device (or don’t have client software available for their device) this is a really viable alternate. Well done to MTN and DStv mobile for improving significantly on the Vodacom offering.
I haven’t tested the service so can’t tell you how well it works, but based on the information provided it does look good. The FAQ on the DStv web site (link here) claims the service will work on most 2.5G or 3G cell phones (however it doesn’t work on the iPhone or a device only using the Opera Mini web browser). Still, that includes more devices than it excludes.
Press release below :
DStv Mobile Channels adjusted, premium package added
Posted on November 08, 2011I was sent a press release from DStv mobile today around some changes to their channels and packages. They have split the channels into three packages:
- Free : E! Entertainment, Channel O, SuperSport Blitz, The eNews Channel, CNNi
- R36/Month : SuperSport 1,2,3,4, AfricaMagic, M-Net Series, SONYMax, Cartoon Network, Discovery
- Premium : M-Net Mobile (Available only to DStv Premium subscribers at no subscription cost)
So the net effect is that Discovery has been added for all existing (R36/month) subscribers, and if you are a DStv Premium (R600+/month) subscriber you can now also have the new M-Net Mobile on your Drifta for free.
The M-Net mobile should be almost the same as the M-Net channel (except there will be no movies?), and will be available from 2pm to around 10:30pm each day.
There is no indication of whether M-Net Mobile will be available to non-premium subscribers for an extra fee at some stage.
The full press release is included below :
A new addition to the DStv Mobile lineup – the Walka Handheld TV
Posted on November 06, 2011Press release as received from DStv Mobile, I have not seen the device in person nor do I have any details other than what is below. It does however sound like a good product for those who don’t have a supported device. Sports lovers can rejoice with this nifty new device if it provides a decent picture (3.5″ is a bit small, but given the transmission resolution this should be ok) and has reasonable battery life. If anyone gets some hands on time with one, please send through your thoughts. This device could be great for those wanting a hassle free experience.
DStv Mobile unveils the Walka Handheld TV
Another innovative product is about to be released by DStv Mobile. The Walka Handheld TV is a slim, lightweight device with a 3.5” viewing screen providing digital visual and audio quality. Its introduction gives DStv Mobile subscribers even more ways to access mobile TV on the go, anywhere, anytime.
“We are proud to introduce South Africans to the Walka device which is designed to further enrich the mobile TV viewing experience” explains Mark Rayner General Manager DStv Mobile, “It’s a must have, mobile TV viewing can begin the moment you switch it on.”
Previously released devices; the Drifta and the Drifta USB; give access to mobile TV across a wide range of devices such as PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. This is done through pairing the viewing device with the Drifta or connecting the Drifta USB. The Walka is a portable TV with no other devices required to view.
After activating the Walka through the MultiChoice call centre it connects to the DStv Mobile DVB-H broadcast signal, giving access to 16 great DStv channels in the genres of sport, music, news, cartoons and general entertainment. The content line-up includes the two brand new channels that were recently added; magical channel M-Net Mobile and the informative Discovery channel.
The same great channels are available across all DStv Mobile capable devices for the same subscription of R36 per month. DStv Premium subscribers pay no subscription to access DStv Mobile.
“Our research has shown that there is interest in a dedicated mobile TV viewing device to ease accessibility and improve usability of the mobile TV service. We anticipate that the Walka will be well received by the market and hope our subscribers find it as another useful way to stay in touch with DStv channels.” said Rayner.
The Walka will be the third device (after the Drifta and the Drifta USB) to be released by DStv Mobile since commercial launch in November 2010. The device will be available at MultiChoice centres and select retail outlets from 1 December 2011 at the recommended retail price of R649.
DStv Mobile coverage is available in the 9 major cities of South Africa. For network coverage, and further information visitwww.dstvmobile.com.
Issued by:
Maiyo Simapungula
Public Relations and Communications Manager
DStv Mobile
Maiyo.simapungula@dstvmobile.
Tel: 011 289 4214
Cell: 084 824 7757
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