I love the almost Trapper Keeper like aesthetic of the Mophie Workbook Case, which not only protects your iPad but lets you prop it up horizontally at almost any angle, perfect for typing or watching video. Sure, unlike my old Trapper Keeper, it features a synthetic leather veneer, but for some reason, I less want to put my iPad in it than lock in a bunch of cool robot folders magic-markered in block capitals with their dedicated subject.
Also unlike a Trapper Keeper is the price: a Mophie Workbook will cost you $59.95 if you want one.
The iPad is just about perfect for reading magazines; surprising, then, that more publishers haven’t come out with iPad-specific apps, right? Thankfully, publishers seem to be catching on, and last week saw two tricked-out versions of women’s magazines debut as apps on the iPad.
Our most beloved of open-source video players, VLC, got a spankingly sexy iPad port last month… and now it’s been updated as a universal binary that supports the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and third/fourth gen iPod Touch.
If you’ve previously downloaded the iPad version, the update also adds the ability to delete files within VLC itself, as well as faster decoding and increased support for some of the more esoteric extensions.
Is there anything VLC doesn’t run on at this point? Besides the AppleTV, that is, which is positively twitching for a port?
VLC is a free download from the App Store. Go get it.
Remember last week’s report that said that almost one-third of all iPad owners had never downloaded an app?
We bought it — after all, the iPad is a compelling device right out of the box without ever plugging in a credit card company — but it looks like we were being overly credulous. Nielsen Group, who originally posted the numbers, has just released a huge honking update on their previous numbers… this time claiming that only 9% of iPad users have never downloaded an app.
Despite the wary uncertainty of several Secret Service agents, Sylvester Cann was able to get President Obama to autograph his iPad at a recent rally at the University of Washington in Seattle. Much to Apple’s chagrin, the autograph was captured through their arch-nemesis Adobe’s Adobe Ideas app.
If you’ve not discovered Trainyard yet, it’s high time you got yourself to the App Store and spent a dollar on it. It’s one of those games that offers a great deal of entertainment for a very low price.
One of our favorite applications this week is a great new photography app called Simply Postcardsthat lets you turn any photo into a real postcard that you can have printed with a personal message and mailed to friends and family.
Printer Prois Readdle’s latest application for iOS, and one of the most impressive applications in our favorites this week. It allows you to wirelessly print a whole range of documents direct from your iPad, including email attachments, web pages, and iWork documents.
Also featured is a great language translator for the iPad, and the most definitive guide to Central Park for your iPhone.
This week’s must-have iOS games features a great new sports package for the iPhone that offers 5 action-packed sports games including archery, bowling, and tennis. Yoo! Sportsclaims to be the next generation of iOS gaming.
Reckless Racingis EA’s fantastic new dirt-road racer and another of our favorite games this week. It combines traditional top-down racing with state of the art graphic environments optimized for the Retina display.
Angry Birds Halloweenalso features – the ghastly special edition of one of the best-selling iOS games in the App Store.
Cult of Mac was asked by CNBC’s Street Signs to contribute our thoughts on the current market debate of whether it’s wiser to invest in Gold or Apple. Even though we don’t masquerade as financial advisors, the debate in the short-term seems fairly straightforward to us, and here are a few of the major points:
Docks that can accommodate the iPad are a quickly swelling niche in the home electronics market; iHome’s throws another hat into the ring with their wide-stanced iA100, combining a sleek look and Bluetooth connectivity.
Bluetooth capabilities include streaming music from a BT-equipped iDevice, and turning the unit into an iPhone speakerphone (though Skyping won’t work, as Skype has yet to add BT functionality to their app). Sound from four active speakers is enhanced through the same Bongiovi DPS processing technology found on their flagship iP1, and a free app available through the app store add a slew of features like enhanced alarm controls, and even sleep stats.
This is turning out to be a pretty artsy weekend for the iPad. Not only will there be an explosion of iPad and iPhone art at the first ever Mobile ArtCon in Manhattan, but Infinite Dreams has also just launched a free version of their Let’s Create Pottery HD app, which turns the iPad into a virtual pottery wheel and kiln and has to be one of the most stunning creative apps we’ve seen on the device. there’s even a virtual showroom, where finished creations can be displayed.
The full, $5 version of the app will also be on sale at $3 through the weekend, though it’s not immediately clear what the differences are between the two.
For those of us who practically live in third-party apps, it can be hard to believe that it’s even possible to own an iPad without immediately hitting the App Store… but a new Nielsen survey says that the app-less iPad is a common occurrence.
How common? According to the Nielsen Company, who polled over five thousand owners of “connected devices,” one-third of the iPad owners surveyed have never downloaded an application at all.
Yesterday, Steve Jobs took the stage for the Back to Mac event and finally put the kibosh on the idea of touchscreen iMacs. He made some excellent points: namely, that multitouch really requires a horizontal configuration instead of a vertical one, making it only a really pleasant-to-use experience on a device like a tablet or smartphone.
Makes sense to us.If you’re just dying for the touchscreen iMac experience, though, why not transform your iPad into a semblance of one with the PadDock, which will turn your iPad into a tiny approximation of a 10-inch iPad. It contains built-in speakers, 360 degrees of rotation and the ability to charge and sync your iPad while it’s connected.
I mean, look: the PadDock is really just an iPad speaker dock with a novelty shape. That’s cool, but you may well not want to spend $100 on it, especially since the iPad in a vertical docking configuration is going to be subject to the same ergonomic difficulties Steve Jobs says is stopping Apple from bringing multitouch to the displays of their laptops and desktops. But take a good look anyway,because this is the closest to a touchscreen iMac you’re going to get this short of a really ingenious Hackintosh.
If you mostly play around with Macs, you’ve probably never heard of Cool Master: the company usually dedicates itself to the task of making the sorts of outrageous, glowing computer cases favored by the sort of mouth breathing PC uber-nerds who list their Counterstrike stats on their curriculum vitaes.
It’s interesting, then, to see Cool Master release a product that can be used by Apple fans, even if it is as bog standard a gadget as an external battery pack.
Called the Choiix Power Fort 5.5 Whr, this battery pack is about the same size as an iPhone and has a single charge port on the bottom that will allow it to juice up any gadget under the sun capable of sucking down electricity through the USB standard.
For Apple-only households, this means you can juice your iPod Touch or iPhone up for an additional eight hours. iPods can expect another 48 hours of on-the-road battery life. Even the iPad should get a few extra hours from the Choiix, and Cool Master says that the 5.5Whr can be recharged up to 300 times while retaining 85% of its total capacity.
Is it worth buying? If you’re looking to recharge a variety of devices, it might be a good deal, but it’s hard to tell, given how cagey Cool Master is being about the price.
AppBackr was launched this week as an invitation only beta. The service offered by AppBacker, Inc. of Palo Alto, California offers iOS app developers a new way to get cash advances for future app sales. Developers earn these advances by selling their apps wholesale to buyers via the AppBackr online catalog.
The return on the buyer’s investment depends on whether or not the app sells well. This sounds risky for the buyer, but not necessarily since they are expected to promote the app in magazines, blogs, etc. or they might just hire a good public relations firm to help.
Therefore AppBackr provides three very important services to app developers that are not very easy to come by: marketing, financing, and an online wholesale sales catalog.
Dr. Richard Watson shows Gustavo Pinor an X-ray of his sprained ankle on an iPad. @Chicago Sun Times.
Next time you go to the hospital, your doctor might whip out an iPad to show you X-rays, check drug interactions or review your medical history.
These are just some of the uses doctors are finding for Apple’s handy tablet computer in the Chicago area where three local hospitals are iPad early adopters.
At MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, the device “went through here like wildfire,” once doctors realized they could use the device to quickly access hospital records said Dr. Richard Watson, who works in the ER room. “At least half of our staff here in the emergency room has their own iPad and carries it and uses it.”
Australian airliner, Qantas Airlines, is to begin offering the iPad for in-flight entertainment to travellers on its Jetstar flights.
Qantas have been testing the tablet device on its planes since back in June, and passengers had the opportunity to rent the tablet device for $10 (AUS). Following its success, the airliner is now ready to deploy the iPad across its Jetstar flights.
“We’re in the final stages of putting in place what would be a broader roll out across the network. We’re in ongoing discussion with the manufacturer around a more integrated network proposition.”
We’re unsure what an “integrated network” could mean at this point, but it seems that it might be a streaming service for music, movies, TV shows, and games, so that passengers can choose entertainment to suit them, rather than have to pick from what’s available on the device.
If you’ve ever participated in any kind of canvassing for a political party or for pet causes, you know what an excruciating experience it can be on every level.
From having to put on a cheesy smile as you approach busy strangers in the street to having to put all the information together back in the office, it’s just one of the most tedious tasks around, apart from, say, taking out the garbage.
The Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America have gone a long way to address all of that with their thoughtfully-designed iPhone/iPAD/iPOD Touch canvassing and organizing application, which was launched earlier this month. It’s one of the best tools I’ve seen.
If you had a PC in the 1980s, you might have fond memories of playing Sierra’s line-up of classic adventure games: King’s Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest, etc.
You’ll probably be delighted to learn, then, that these retro classics will soon be coming to the iPad, courtesy of Sarien.net. Best of all, they’ll be free.
Featured in our favorite iOS applications this week is the free content sharing app from Posterous that lets you post any mix of text, photos, and videos instantly to the web, directly from your iPhone.
Phoster is also featured in our must-have application list this week: it’s a universal app for both iPhone and iPad that lets your create stunning posters and invitations. With loads of templates to get you started and various effects and decorations, you’ll be able to produce stylish results in no time at all on your iOS device.
We also have the new T3magazine app that delivers the world’s greatest gadget magazine to your iPad. Buy and download the T3: iPad Edition every month and access content exclusive to the touchscreen device.
As I noted the other day, I recently completed a near-endless trip around the world, and I used my iPad for pretty much everything while on the plane. And the more I think about it, the more it’s clear to me that I will never again go on vacation with a laptop.
Here are my top 10 reasons why:
10. Though heavy, iPads weigh less than any hardcover and most paperbacks. A lot of people, me included, spend a lot of time whining about how heavy the iPad is. But at 1.5 pounds, it’s a lot lighter than any edition of every single book in Oprah’s club.
9. Endless battery life makes a lack of power outlets irrelevant. Whether with my iPhone or my MacBook, I can’t count the number of times that I’ve started watching a movie on a plane only have the power give out partway through. I seriously can’t imagine how that would ever happen with an iPad. Depending on the task, I’ve gotten well over two hours of battery life after getting the 20 percent warning.
As New York Times reporter Kate Zernike notes in her new book “Boiling Mad,” a good portion of the Tea Party movement is composed of youthful, tech-savvy hipsters — so it really shouldn’t be surprising that the movement has its own iPhone/iPad app.
The app features top news of interest to members of the movement, polemics from 11 conservative bloggers, Tea Party videos, and wouldn’t be complete with a feature called “Outrage of the Day.”
