Posts Tagged
ipad
On a Wednesday morning in early March, Apple unveiled their latest and greatest iOS tablet. Rumors had claimed that the device would be quad-core, but it turns out that the device only touts a dual-core processor with a quad-core graphics processor. It’s not all that disappointing though, because they also showcased the new iPad Retina display – it’s the best-looking display you’ll ever come in contact with at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. What’s crazy is the fact that this display exceeds the amount of pixels in an average HDTV by over a million. It’s really something you have to see, just as the event invitation Apple sent out last week asserted.
Keep reading for a full roundup of what took place at this year’s iPad event.
To appropriately mark the downloading of the 25 billionth app, I think it’s important to take a fresh look at the App Store itself. Some of you might argue that I should tone down my approach, surely it’s a grave misnomer to use such strong language in reference to an imaginary (or at least virtual) shop. Much like the way it’s slightly creepy and weird to refer to the iPad, or any other technology for that matter, as sexy…
Love and hate are strong emotions, but I’m feeling opinionated so I’ll stick with them for sheer simplicity. Today I want to look at the App Store, a place we’re all abundantly familiar with, and why I think it’s a brilliant nightmare, a terrible masterpiece.
Do you like Safari on your iPad? Really?
I’ll admit that it is pretty quick, but that doesn’t make up for the dire lack of extensions – I just want to be able to use 1Password, is that so much to ask?
The question today is, would you use a different default browser on your iPad if you could? You can freely use a whole multitude of different browsers on the iPad, but not being able to set them as the default makes things awkward. That little settings change could mean so much.
You could have that gesture based browser you love always pop up when you click a link in your email, you could even use a browser that supports Flash as your default!
I’ve got a feeling that most people aren’t too fussed about the default browser, and the fact that Safari is pretty good helps to keep people from investigating the other options. But maybe I’m wrong, would you change the default browser if you could?
My favorite iPad apps are the ones that leave me thinking “I can’t believe that I’m doing this on an iPad.” These apps shatter the belief that iPads are only meant for surfing the web and reading ebooks. PDFpen by Smile is one of these groundbreaking apps. With PDFpen it’s not only possible to markup a PDF document but edit the text and images of the original document as well.
PDFpen’s feature set is vast, and it’s important to consider whether or not these features are necessary before making the investment. Let’s dive in.
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There’s been quite a bit of debate recently about the next version of the iPad, including all of the usual stuff: Retina display, quad-core chips, yada, yada, yada. But the interesting note lately that came straight from the Wall Street Journal is that Apple is testing out an 8-inch version of the iPad, and it just might be the new release that’s coming (per the rumors, anyways) in the first week of March.
Now we can play the speculation game on “will they or won’t they” all day long, but as usual, we’re not going to know the truth until our next iPad announcement. But what if there really is an 8-inch version of the iPad in testing? I think that it could be a reality, and I’ve got a few different reasons why.
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Life as a student revolves heavily around class lectures. I’ve tried every method of note taking, from outlining to audio recording, but my notebooks always end up mangled and recordings forgotten. Fortunately, the iPad brought along with it a new method of taking notes. Sure, it’s possible to annotate PDF files on a laptop, but it’s not practical. Writing directly on the lecture slides is the only way to guarantee that I’ll ever give my notes a second glance.
There are plenty of PDF annotation apps in the iPad app store, but most are either feature sick or buggy. I’m not interested in an underdeveloped outlining feature or changing the in-app theme; I simply want an app that provides a minimal interface, snappy writing performance, and a few basic features. I’ve tried countless annotation apps, and there’s only one that combines the right balance of features and performance to make its way onto my iPad home screen. GoodNotes by Time Base Technology Limited provides an unobtrusive interface, solid performance, and a focussed feature set, but are these enough to set the app apart from the competition?
We all want to get the very best out of our devices! Who doesn’t love finding out a new trick or shortcut?
This roundup aims to enlighten those new to the iPad, and guide old hands to a few new tricks – the heading might be laced with hyperbole, but you’re going to have a look anyway…
For those of you who are super-confident about your iPad knowledge, I’d like to propose a challenge. Go through and see how many features and shortcuts you didn’t know about, leave a comment with the number at the bottom of the post – and be honest!
A simple question this week, following on from my earlier musings on whether a 3G iPad is really necessary. I’d like to ask the question; is a 3G iPad worth it for you?
This isn’t a poll on what you currently have, but rather an enquiry into whether you think getting a 3G iPad is worth it for you personally – would get get enough use from the service to make the extra initial cost, and contract, pay its way?
If you’re a frustrated user of a Wi-Fi only iPad then feel free to lodge your irritation and wish for a 3G enabled iPad. Conversely, if you’re a 3G iPad owner who wishes they hadn’t spent the extra money then get involved! Leave a comment below if there’s something specific you’d like to mention.
Is 3G worth it for you simply die to the addition of GPS? Or are you perfectly happy with tethering as you have your iPhone on you all the time? Do you prefer the simplicity of a 3G iPad?
Whatever your answer, feel free to give reasons in the comments!
Most writing apps for the iPad are dedicated to facilitating the writing process. Apps are designed to remove distractions, sync seamlessly and provide easy formatting options; however, very few apps attempt to improve the manner in which the ideas themselves are expressed.
Phraseology, by Agile Tortoise, provides a set of powerful language-editing tools that appeal to any writer who’s more concerned with verbiage than a distraction-free writing environment. How does it hold up to the competition? Read on to find out.
The explosion of the iPad is nothing short of amazing! If you compare the iPad’s growth to that of the iPhone over the first two years, you’d be hard pressed to find evidence that its success is slowing down any time soon.
While reading through the inevitable, yet somehow still intriguing, technology predictions for 2012 I found a point made by Shawn Blanc to be a rather interesting one. He predicted that;
I think Apple is going to sell more of the 3G models. Just a hunch, but as people start to realize that their iPad can serve as a primary computer then an extra $129 to get 3G becomes a valuable upgrade.
Will the 3G iPad become the dominant model in 2012? Are there good reasons for you not to upgrade to a 3G iPad?
