iPad

As a formerly certified weather geek, I like to check out new weather apps. I'm usually drawn to ones with more advanced features, but occasionally I find a simple and elegant weather program I have to mention. YoWindow ($0.99) is one such app. It is not a fancy weather app, which can become cluttered with maps and trend graphs. Instead, it gives you a view of upcoming weather in a serene 2D scene you can animate (e.g. forecast conditions) as you swipe. The app also serves to relax you with realistic outside sights and sounds that match the conditions, and even indicate the season.

The annual Macworld/iWorld trade show is underway in San Francisco, and Macworld magazine already has named its Best of Show winners. They include some gotta-see gadgets for the iPad and iPhone, such as an iPad robot, an iPad case that doubles as a speaker, and a 1TB external hard drive for the iPhone and iPad.

I've seen a number of lists of apps recommended for those lucky individuals who got a new iPhone or iPad from Santa, but CNET's listing strikes me as being the most useful. They include a number of free apps that are my favorites and that I use every day. Let's take a look at some of their recommended apps. 

Flipboard — This is likely the most popular aggregator of news and content ever developed for iOS devices. Its interface is gorgeous and intuitive, and very easy to customize to your interests. Many people find it to be their favorite window onto Facebook or news or entertainment or sports, or whatever your interest is. 

 

Google Maps — When Apple dumped Google Maps in favor of its own maps solution, many were disappointed that Apple's effort was missing some of their favorite features, such as transit directions and Google Street View. Fortunately, Google eventually came out with a full-featured version of their app for iOS devices that has almost all the functionality of their highly popular maps app for Android devices. 

New images of the iPad mini have surfaced on the French website nowhereelse.fr. Feast your eyes on these pictures of what appears to be a fully assembled, fully functional iPad mini.
 
                    
 
Read on and you will see in the following images, early pre-production cases for the iPhone 5, the iPod mini and the current generation iPad, alongside the current generation iPhone 4S. The infographic gives a good sense of the relative sizes of the various devices by using two devices most of us are quite familiar with, to represent the sizes of the two devices we’ve never seen.

 

 

After months of anticipation and rumored development, Lifeproof, (arguably one of the best protective case manufacturers for iDevices) has produced, and now released, their version of the award-winning Lifeproof case, for the iPad 2 and 3rd generation models.

 

Called the “nüüd”, this new, completely submersible iPad case is a revolution of design and functionality. This cleverly designed case provides a high level of defense for our precious iPads, unlike anything else on the market.

 

 

TinyLightbulbs.com is a ingenious young company that specializes in bringing independently funded and crowd funded projects to greater public awareness. Recently they turned me on to a product called The Flex Kit. Here is a case solution that stands out from a very crowded field of iPad cases. Uzibull has created a versatile and unique product, a protective and functional line of accessories for the iPad that is The Flex Kit.

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.

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.

In the last few days, I've participated in several discussion threads in the Phone Cameras / Tablets & Apps forum of DPReview. (See for example THIS, THIS and THIS). In order not to have to repeat the same facts again and again in future discussions, I've decided to dedicate a complete article to the question of using the iPad as a photo frame.

I have a second-generation Apple TV set-top box, and really enjoy using AirPlay to stream movies from my iPad to my 42-inch HDTV. It's fun how simple it is. If you have an iOS device and Apple TV on the same WiFi network, you simply start playing a video and tap a button that gives you the option of playing the movie on your TV instead of your iPad. If you need to go out and want to continue watching the movie, you simply toggle back to the iPad and continue watching.

I've just returned to my hotel room from the first day of MWC so that I can get ready for the MobileFocus event in the evening. I couldn't wait with sharing my experiences with you on the spot. Having little free time, however, let's start with the most two important pieces of news: the Nokia PureView 808 (a phone with a freaking good camera) and the Samsung Note 10.1 (a really decent tablet). I had some quality hands-on time with both models. Let's start with the former.

Nokia PureView 808

If you are a Tumblr fan, and looking for an app that makes it easy to follow your favorite photo blogs (or find new ones), TumbleOn might be just what you have been looking for. In similar fashion to reader apps like Pulse, TumblOn leverages the smooth side-scrolling features of the iPad touch screen to make it easy to browse your favorite feeds. The app also provides handy quick-pick services that help you drill down on the best blog content, and even reblog it on your own tumblelog site.

Wen you first see their product, you will think they made a typo with their company name and instead of Octa, they should be called Orca. But it's no mistake.  Octa's TabletTail is a vacuum-based suction mount that sticks to your flat backed tablet, ideally an iPad 2, and can give it a tail. The tail makes it easy to both grip the tablet and can be used as a stand to prop the device up.

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