Utilities
Not to negate the progress that has been made recently in the area of artificial intelligence vocal assistant apps, but relatively speaking, this technology, at a consumer level, is still in its infancy. Even Siri is technically still a BETA release. So we can expect to see some glitches and hang ups in all of the current alternatives for vocal assistant software. That said, some are definitely better than others.
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Dropbox and Box have made file access on iOS a pleasure, much more so than iCloud, though in a very different way (you can’t beat, or even use, iWork apps without iCloud on iOS). As speculation about a more integrated cloud-based file system in Mountain Lion tantalizes the Apple Technorati, Microsoft dropped a new version of SkyDrive that delivers a high capacity, cross-platform file storage solutions that works right now.
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I've dedicated several articles (latest one HERE) to converting videos into MP4 (M4V / MOV) files so that they can be played back by the H.264 decoder of even older-generation iDevices. In the current one, I elaborate on how how you can play the output files with the built-in, stock Videos application. This article also belong to my Multimedia article series, in which I plan to publish a “Streaming multimedia over your local Wi-Fi” in the next few days and, then, finally, the real Multimedia bible.
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Whether your schedule is a nightmare because of work, school, kids’ activities, additional obligations, or (heaven help you) all of the above, Yunasoft’snew App Store offering Awesome Calendar offers its help.
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Considering how many apps are available in the Apple app store, not to mention how many are actually on my iPhone (close to 300), it's a bit daunting of a task to come up with only 10 apps to recommend here and now! There are simply so many amazing and award-winning apps out there and each is suited to an individual uniquely.
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Fibble HD is a 3D physics/puzzle game that is a beauty to behold on the iPad, but before I give my review, I have to do a mini-review of the awesomely redesigned SugarSync (which is not a game--sorry about that). The old version of SS (a cloud file syncing app--reviewed here), was not well suited to iPad, but the coders have fixed that in their recent upgrade! So before I tell you how great Fibble is, I want to tell you how great SugarSync has become...
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So far, I've preferred using my high-end 17” Macbook Pro for watching full HD (1920*1080) videos as the screen is able to natively, without downsizing the picture, play back the content. With the new, high-resolution, Retina iPad, playing back even Full HD video has become much more desirable than even on a high-end Macbook Pro: far better screen quality (vastly superior IPS technology vs. TN film, even if the latter is of pretty good quality), no fan noise, no need to connect it to the wall plug (playing back even the most demanding 1080p H.264 videos at max brightness only decreases battery charge by about 18% an hour and doesn't really heat up the iPad 3), mobility, no annoying overheating etc.
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