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Journaling has, to some, become a relic; an item of the past which is no longer relevant. With children of the Facebook age growing farther apart from textile books, writing a diary has become a lost art. People now prefer to use Facebook (or Twitter) as their journal of everything that takes place in their life. It’s understandable since you can share all of the activity there with your friends, but what about all those private things and thoughts you’ve had throughout the day? What, are you going to Tweet them or something? No, I have a better idea.
iPads are great for almost anything and, if you’re comfortable with typing on one, why not use it for journaling as well? Bloom Built’s Day One is by far the best solution to this. Our own Nathaniel Mott reviewed this app last November, giving it a 9/10 for outstanding design and the many handy features. Now, nearly a year later, the developer has added some great new key features like photos, geotagging, weather and Foursquare check-ins. I’m going to take a look at the new features after the break, so why don’t you join me? (more…)
When I was a kid, I used to take two city buses to reach the local comic book store, then another and then I’d walk a mile or so to my parent’s office so I could get a ride home. Eventually, I moved on to another hobby and sold my collection, but I didn’t really want to — they were just taking up too much space.
Today, there are tons of great comic apps on the iPad, and most of them are built by Comixology. The big two are really the ones everyone talks about: Marvel and DC Comics. Almost two years ago, I introduced you to the two apps. Today, with the advancements made with the new iPad, things are much, much better. Let’s compare the two titans of the industry after the jump. (more…)
When it comes to the gamut of topics that we usually cover around these parts, carpeting tends to be pretty low on the list, and understandably so. I mean, who wants to read about an app that talks about carpet, right?
I’m here to change that perception. FLOR, the popular carpet company, recently released a new app for the iPad, appropriately named FLOR app. So what does it do and why would you want to check it out? Find out after the jump. (more…)
Hulu Plus and Netflix are two of the best ways to stream video on an iPad. They both have a good selection, each service has its own exclusive shows and films. Amazon Instant Video has been around for a while too, but there was never any indication of the online superstore bringing access to the iPad. In fact, ever since Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire, it was apparent that Apple’s tablet would likely never get such a streaming service since it was a competitor.
But Amazon decided to surprise us on July 31st, releasing an official Amazon Instant Video app that allows viewing of all your favorite programs right from your iPad. It even features free Prime streaming for those who pay the $79 per year for the service — and it’s actually $39 per year for students, too. This is exactly what you can get on a Kindle Fire, but is the actual experience as good? I’ll take a look after the break. (more…)
The magazine industry will readily acknowledge that it hasn’t adapted well to the digital landscape. To try and play catch-up, some of the biggest publishers in the game have teamed and created Next Issue.
Next Issue functions much like Apple’s Newsstand by aggregating digitized versions of print content. But unlike Newsstand, all the magazines in Next Issue are available within one app, so you don’t have to hop from one application to another to read your favorite rags.
It’s a great idea with lots of promise, but one big issue hinders it from reaching its full potential. Let’s talk about it after the break. (more…)
“Throughout history, people all over the world have invented stories to answer the profound questions of life.” These are the opening words of this interactive book for the iPad. It’s also available in hardback and audiobook, but the authors have also chosen to utilise the iPad platform to bring the book to life, and provide engaging audio, video and interactive tasks to help make the ideas easily accessible.
“The Magic of Reality for iPad presents the real story of the world around us,” say the authors, and they present their work with the exquisite attention to detail worthy of the scribes of old. Let’s take a closer look. (more…)
The Olympic Games are, without a doubt, the greatest sporting spectacle in the world. Combining 36 major sports and only the very best athletes, the games also pose a logistical nightmare for organisers and spectators alike. If, like me, you aren’t fortunate enough to have tickets for the next big game, keeping track of specific events and where to watch them can be a truly thankless task.
For the Beijing Games in 2008, I drew up a shortlist of events I wanted to see — complete with times, locations and where to watch them — only to inadvertently miss Usain Bolt smash Michael Johnson’s 200m sprint world-record, one of the most spectacular moments in the history of athletics. However, thanks to the London 2012 Results app, it is almost impossible to make such a mistake again. (more…)
Social networking online is very popular among users all around the world. Interestingly, people prefer to use Facebook, Google+ or Twitter on mobile devices instead of their computers. It’s the most efficient way to keep in touch with people anywhere in the world, whether you are catching a cab or just walking down the street. But all of that is for smartphones — what about tablets? There are many ways to access Facebook or Twitter on an iPad, but up until this month, Google+ has been left out of the picture.
This year at its I/O conference, Google announced that it would be releasing a tablet-optimized app for iOS and Android with the former coming “soon.” On July 10, the company updated its existing iOS app to be universal with Hangouts on all devices and Retina display support on the new iPad. I’ve been using Google+ for a bit and decided to give it a full review. Keep reading for my thoughts on the app. (more…)
Wordflex is one of those apps that’s hard to justify. It’s a dictionary, fully featured with all of the resources of the Oxford University Press, and a thesaurus as well. But why is it $11.99? Aren’t there plenty of free dictionary apps available for the iPad?
Sure, you could take that route with this one, but that’s not my position. I am a bit of a word nerd, meaning that I enjoy learning more about the English language. For someone like me, or another who works with the written word on a regular basis, Wordflex is more than just a dictionary, it’s a tool for productivity — and fun. So I contacted the good people at Wordflex, and was sent a promo code to review the app. Is it worth the price of admission? Let’s find out. (more…)
If there’s one thing I am adamant about (except all things Apple) it’s not missing my TV shows. It used to be easy, years ago, when the number of shows was somewhat manageable. Today though, there seem to be hundreds and hundreds of different offerings that compete for your attention. And if you get sucked into one show, it quickly becomes two, five, ten or more. How does anyone keep track of them?
You could check running times online or in your local newspaper, but there’s a much more elegant way if you own an iPhone or iPad, because, well, there’s an app for that. It’s called iTV Shows 2 and we’re going to take a look at it today. (more…)
