Another fun contest. Thanks to all of you who took part. It sure is clear that you guys and gals are very impressed with the Flowfold iPad Sleeves – judging by all the great comments we had.

Here are our two lucky winners:

Rebekah and Robin

Winners – please keep an eye on your Inboxes and spam folders, as I’ll be emailing you very soon to ask for your shipping details.

Now for some great news for everybody who didn’t win and for all of our readers: thanks to the very kind folks at Flowfold all of you (and all our readers) have got a chance to grab one of these excellent cases at 15% off.

Just head over to http://www.flowfold.com/products and enter discount code: ipadinsight during checkout for 15% off your order. If you have any issues with the discount please e-mail info@flowfold.com. The offer is valid through Tuesday February 8.

Great stuff. Huge thanks to Flowfold for all of their generosity.

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Who doesn’t like free? And who doesn’t like great iPad apps? When the two come together it’s good stuff. With that in mind, we’d like to share our Best Free iPad App of the Week here every weekend.

This week’s pick is Frequency. Frequency is described on its App Store page as ‘your personal video service’. It’s another excellent, social and highly customizable video app for the iPad. This is rapidly becoming a category where iPad users are spoiled for choice – and that’s a very good thing given how crummy the selection is on TV these days.

Frequency claims to offer ‘more video from more places than anywhere else on the internet’ – I imagine some rival apps might have something to say on that, but the range and amount of content in the app definitely looks impressive.

Here are some of the app’s key features:

- Follow any of your favorite online video channels
- Stay up to the minute on all the topics that are trending right now
- Get every video your friends post on Facebook and Twitter
- Quickly access anything you are following in your personalized TUNER.
- Get highlights from all your channels in My Feed
- Go full screen or use AirPlay to watch on your TV

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Read the rest of Best Free iPad App of the Week: Frequency (512 words)

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Post tags: best free iPad app of the week, best free iPad apps, iPad Apps

Tomorrow is of course the climax of the 2011/12 NFL season, Super Bowl 46. If you’re feeling the need for some iPad apps to help you fully enjoy the occasion, then the iPad App Store has got you covered. There’s featured section this week for Super Bowl 46 and NFL apps for the iPad.

The Superb Bowl XLVI featured section has got a good range of Super Bowl and NFL related apps. Here’s just a few notable examples of what you’ll find:

SB XLVI Guide: Published by NFL Enterprises, this is the official guide for those lucky enough to be attending the game – with 3D maps of Indianapolis and the Lucas Oil Stadium, a guide to local restaurants and events, and more.

Super Bowl XLVI Commemorative App: Another one from NFL Enterprises and NFL Magazine, this one focused on the two teams. It offers a look at how the Giants and the Patriots got to the title game, content featuring all-star teams and Super Bowl history and, once the game is over tomorrow evening, video highlights, pictures, interviews and more recap coverage of the game.

Party Planning: There’s a whole sub-section devoted to helping you get you your Super Bowl food and drink plans together.

Games: And of course there’s a sub-section for NFL related games. It includes a recent favorite of mine, NFL Flick Kicker HD. I’m very surprised to see EA’s Madden NFL 12 is not in the group.

There are lots more apps in the Super Bowl XLVI section – check it out in the iPad App Store in the main Featured area. Let us know in the comments if you’ve got a particular app you’re planning to use during the big game tomorrow.

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Post tags: iPad App Store

Happy Saturday Morning. I hope you’re here for a return visit and enjoying our articles here at iPad Insight. Or that you’re a new reader and thinking about sticking around and coming back often.

If you’d like to keep up with all our latest iPad tips and tricks, iPad app and accessory reviews, and insight on all things iPad, here are some of the best ways to do so:            

Subscribe to our RSS feed:

– Our RSS feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JustAnotherIpadBlog. You can just click on the handsome little button for it at the top of our right sidebar and add it to your favorite RSS reader app so you never miss any of our great app reviews, iPad tips, or iPad accessory reviews.

Check out (and Like) our Facebook page:

– Our Facebook page is here: http://on.fb.me/jtjHbX. We post article links there as well, along with photos and screencaps of latest apps and accessories reviewed. We also run some spur-of-moment giveaway contests on the Facebook page. You can also like our Facebook page via the widget near the bottom of our right sidebar.

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Read the rest of Follow Us for More iPad Insight (172 words)

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A set of recent Changewave surveys show that the iPad is still the clear leader when it comes to customer satisfaction. Their latest survey focuses quite a bit on the Kindle Fire and Fire owners’ intentions of buying on Amazon – but it includes some details on customer satisfaction levels found in recent surveys as well.

These show that no less than 74% of iPad owners are very satisfied with the device. Only 54% of Kindle Fire owners say they are very satisfied, and for owners of other tablet devices (a catch-all category for all the sad sack would-be rival tablets so far) the score is 49%.

I tried out a Kindle Fire for a few weeks back in November of last year, and based on that experience I’m really not surprised that its customer satisfaction levels are not that great, and well below those of the iPad. It’s hard to see how the Fire can maintain its sales momentum if these ratings stay at these sort of levels.

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Post tags: iPad rivals

When I first saw the video demo of the Gorillamobile Ori for iPad 2 case, I was impressed with how slick and versatile this case looked. I ordered one that same day and it arrived this morning.

As first impressions go, color me very impressed indeed with Ori for iPad 2. When I’ve spent more time with the case I’ll do a full review, but in the meantime here are a few reasons it is making a very favorable first impression:

– It’s sleek and unique looking – all lightweight aluminum goodness.

– It’s extremely versatile. You can quickly swivel the iPad between landscape and portrait orientation.

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Read the rest of Quick First Impressions – The Incredibly Versatile Ori iPad 2 Case (101 words)

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Post tags: iPad 2 accessories, iPad 2 cases, iPad accessories, iPd 2 case + stand

Avid Studio, a new iPad app released yesterday on the App Store, promises to bring big-screen moviemaking capabilities to the iPad.

This looks like a serious iMovie competitor on the iPad. It’s priced at the same $4.99 level as iMovie as well, though iMovie is a universal app and Avid Studio is iPad only right now.

Here’s a bit of the App Store intro for Avid Studio:

We’ve distilled the world’s leading film-editing technology into an easy-to-use app that enables you to edit video, audio, and photos at the speed of your creativity.

Swiftly arrange your clips in the Storyboard, make precision edits using the Timeline, and add high-quality transitions, effects, and a soundtrack. Then share your movie directly to YouTube, Facebook, and more—or export your project to Avid Studio for the PC and continue editing with even more advanced tools.

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Read the rest of Avid Studio App Promises Big-screen Moviemaking on the iPad (352 words)

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Now that we’re into the ‘iPad season’ portion of the year, I’ve started thinking about what to do with the current iPads in my household in the lead-up to launch of the iPad 3 (or whatever the next-gen iPad ends up being called).

Right now I use an iPad 2 64GB WiFi + 3G model, and my wife and daughter share an original iPad that’s also 64GB and WiFi + 3G (handed down when I bought the iPad 2 on launch day last year).

Unless Apple decide to announce that the iPad 3 will be made of Play-Doh and powered by Android, I’ll be getting one on launch day again. And I’m sure my wife and daughter will be more than happy to take the iPad 2 as another hand-me-down at that point. My daughter is getting more and more use out of the iPad and some great educational apps as well as fun games on it – so the substantial upgrade from the original iPad will get put to good use.

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Read the rest of Starting to Think on What to Do with Old iPads Leading up to iPad 3 Launch (272 words)

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Post tags: iPad 3, selling older iPads

The Daily, the first iPad-only newspaper, is celebrating its first anniversary today. It’s published by Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp and has had backing to the tune of over $30 million before it even hit the App Store.

I did a review of The Daily last March (a month after its launch) – and though I found it a promising concept it was disappointing in many ways as well. Here’s a slice of my sum-up in that early review:

The Daily is a promising title, purely on the basis that it is the first of its kind and News Corp is obviously committed to making it a top-notch title for the iPad and possibly other tablets as well.

It has a long way to go to deliver on its promise though. Right now its speed and performance issues are severe, and they are killing the user experience in the app. They’re bad enough that it is tough to stick with the title.

Sadly, a number of those really basic performance issues stayed with The Daily throughout much of its first year. Millions might have been spent in many areas, but it sure didn’t look like many pennies were being put towards making the app work well.

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Read the rest of The Daily, the First iPad-only Newspaper, Is One Year Old Today (207 words)

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Post tags: iPad Apps, iPad newspaper apps, The Daily

Football Manager Handheld 2012 – the iPad and iOS version of the venerable football management app – has had a big price drop today and is now on sale at 50% off. It’s listed at $4.99 today, down from its standard $9.99.

I’ve been a huge fan of football management games for years and years now, starting with Championship Manager back in the day and through several generations of Football Manager. I spent lots of hours with last year’s Football Manager Handheld 2011 on the iPad, and I’m happy to say this year’s version, Football Manager Handheld 2012, is even better. I’ve already achieved a crazy addictiveness rating in this year’s version and I’ll do a review of it soon – in the meantime, I’ll just say it’s a great game if you like this genre.

I don’t know what the price drop is in aid of, or how long it will last – I do know this is a great price for this quality game. If you’ve been thinking on this one at all, today is a good day to grab it.

Here’s an App Store link for Football Manager Handheld 2012.

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Post tags: iPad Games

Those clever guys at BGR have heard from a source who claims to be in possession of an iPad 3 prototype. That source has run a debugging tool called iBoot that is said to have uncovered a couple of key details about the specs for the iPad 3:

– It’s got an A6 quad-core processor

– The WiFi + model will have support for GSM, CDMA, and LTE – for 4G data capability.

Needless to say the the photo could be a fake and the information could be inaccurate – but the possibility of a prototype being out ‘in the wild’ seems just about plausible as we’ve seen numerous reports of late on how iPad 3 production has already begun.

The quad-core processor is hardly a stretch to believe, while the LTE support is a little less of an oddsmaker’s favorite I’d say. And I still hope that LTE is not coming to this year’s model – unless Apple have worked some sort of magic that doesn’t allow it to be a massive battery killer.

Hopefully we are getting very close to an Apple iPad 3 launch event that will put an end to all the waiting and speculating.

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Post tags: iPad 3, iPad 3 rumors, iPad 3 specs

NewsFlash is a relatively new breaking news and headlines RSS reader app for the iPad and iPhone. It uses quite a simple interface and offers breaking news and top stories from around the world and in a number of languages.

I have a clear favorite RSS reader app for the iPad, River of News, and use Twitter and notifications from a handful of news apps to attempt to keep up with breaking news – but I’m always on the lookout for more good news and RSS sources, so I’ve been giving NewsFlash a try over the last several days. The short story here is that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much I like this app. Hit the break for the reasons why …

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Read the rest of NewsFlash – a Very Clean, Fast News & RSS Reader for iPad (557 words)

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Post tags: iPad app reviews, iPad Apps, iPad news apps, NewsFlash

Flowfold iPad Sleeves are a superb case for the iPad 2 or original iPad. They started out as a Kickstarter project last year; the project got funded and these excellent cases are now available to order. I was fortunate enough to be given a sample unit to test while the Kickstarter project was going on, was thoroughly impressed, and became a project backer.

I’ve been using the Flowfold sleeve for a couple months now and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s one of my favorite cases for my iPad 2. So I’m happy to say there are two bits of good news on Flowfold to share with you today: that they’re available to purchase now at the Flowfold site at a very reasonable $35 price point, and that we’ve got two to giveaway to a pair of lucky readers.

Read on for more details about why the Flowfold iPad Sleeves are so good, and how to enter for a chance to win one …

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Read the rest of Highly Recommended: Flowfold iPad Sleeves (and a Chance for You to Win One) (325 words)

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Post tags: iPad 2 accessories, iPad 2 cases, iPad accessories

Photogene for iPad, one of the more capable photo editing / effects apps for the iPad, has had a major update this week, to Version 3.3.

One of the most notable new features is support for exporting images to Evernote and Tumblr (adding to a strong range of existing options like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, Picasa and more). There’s also a new device-to-device transfer capability if you have Photogene installed on another iOS device. Unfortunately this uses Bluetooth rather than WiFi.

The update also adds some new editing tools – including a new Clarity Slider and Clone tool – and this very cool sounding feature:

Copy edit operations from one photo and apply the same edits on another photo. Long-tap on the photo in the edit screen to copy&paste edits.

Here’s the full list of what’s new in this latest version of Photogene for iPad:

New: order directly from Photogene real photo products that will be delivered to you by mail. Service by tap2print.
New sharing options:
- Device-to-device: transfer photos directly to another iPad/iPhone (requires Photogene to be installed on the other device).
- Evernote.
- Tumblr.
- Now it’s possible to preserve the original file names when uploading to Dropbox, FTP or mail (requires iOS 5).
- Add date-stamp to your exported photos.
New edit tools:
- Clarity slider.
- Clone tool.
- Can now make collages even if location-services are turned off.
- Copy edit operations from one photo and apply the same edits on another photo. Long-tap on the photo in the edit screen to copy&paste edits.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed problem that the app loaded very slowly on devices with large photo libraries.
- Fixed pixilation issues that occurred with some types of jpeg files.

Photogene for iPad is already one of the best photo editing apps for iPad, and it’s great to see its developers continuing to update it with impressive new features.

Here’s an App Store link for Photogene for iPad; it’s priced at $2.99.

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Post tags: iPad Apps

Image Source: Destination360.com

The City of Austin is putting a ‘fleet of iPads’ and the FileMaker Go app to work to help streamline exhibitors management at the Austin Convention Center. As Apple Insider reports, the city has been able to deploy specialized apps based on the FileMaker database software …

… Austin’s database administrator Jeff Moore outlined how his group is using FileMaker Go to turn work order forms in their billing system into a touch-driven iPad app that allows employees to navigate orders and floor diagrams for city’s convention center.
The mobile app for iPad has improved employees’ productivity by giving them up to date information for clients and exhibitors operating in the Austin Convention Center

The Austin Convention Center is home to the upcoming annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, Music and Film conference and festival.

Moore also said the iPad initiative is providing a 200 percent return on investment. I’m very glad to see the iPad at work in my hometown, and doing good work for the home of SXSW.

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Post tags: iPad at work

Pocket Informant HD – the feature rich and versatile calendar / tasks management app for the iPad – has just added some new strings to its bow and become even more versatile. This week it has been updated with its first 2.0 release, Version 2.02.41.

With this update, Pocket Informant HD now offers Notes and Contacts views – so you now have calendar, tasks, contacts, and notes all in one app (just as PI always offered on the Windows Mobile platform).

Another headline new feature in this update is support for syncing with Google Tasks. Here’s the list of new and notable features in this new version:

• Notes and Contact Views
• Task Smart Groups
• Google Task sync
• Photo and Contact Linking
• Swipe to Action, and many other major new features
• Desk Themes

Pocket Informant HD was already a strong contender for those looking to manage tasks and calendars on the iPad. Now that it has added contacts and notes features, and a Google Tasks hookup, it should become an even more popular choice for iPad users.

Here’s an App Store link for Pocket Informant HD; it’s priced at $9.99.

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Notification Center is one of the headline features in iOS 5. It’s a major improvement to how notifications were previously delivered in iOS and it works wonderfully well on the iPad. It lets you see all your notifications in one clear list view, and it’s instantly available with just a quick swipe gesture from anywhere on the iPad.

For those of your who are newer to the iPad or iOS 5, or even just to notifications on the iPad, here are a few handy little tips for working with Notification Center:

How To Open and Close Notification Center on the iPad

– To open Notification Center from any of your home screens or any app that displays the status bar, just swipe down from anywhere on the status bar. If you’re in a full-screen app that doesn’t show the status bar, you swipe down from anywhere at the very top of the page (on the bezel of the iPad) and you’ll see a little set of bars pop up in the middle of the screen at the top – tap and swipe down on those to invoke Notification Center.

– To close Notification Center you look for the same set bars at the bottom center of the Notification Center view, and tap and swipe up

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Read the rest of iPad Basics: How To Use Notification Center on the iPad (320 words)

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Post tags: how to use Notification Center on iPad, iPad Basics, iPad notifications, iPad tips

Instapaper, the superb offline reading app for iPad and iOS, has been updated recently – to Version 4.0.2.

One of the most notable additions in this update is new subscription options – you can now purchase subscriptions in 3,6, or 12 month intervals. Becoming a subscriber not only supports the development of this excellent app, but also brings the following benefits:

• Search all articles in your account.
• Ability to use third-party Instapaper API apps.
• Higher Kindle article limits and a “Send to Kindle” bookmarklet to send any page immediately.
• Higher RSS-feed limits and faster feed updates.
• An option to hide Instapaper’s ads.

For me, just the search capability is well worth the small cost of a subscription ( a dollar per month) – so it’s nice to see more subscription length options.

The remainder of the change list for Instapaper Version 4.0.2 is as follows:

- Faster updates and startup
- Images now work with VPNs and proxies
- New Subscription page in Settings shows remaining duration and renewal options
- Added Summly and Due to Share panel, and added Definition to dictionary popups, when their respective apps are installed
- Added support for the "Speak Selection" accessibility feature in iOS 5
- Fixed miscellaneous interface shortcomings

I should note that I don’t actually see subscription information mentioned above in Settings.

Here’s an App Store link for Instapaper; it’s priced at $4.99.

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Post tags: iPad Apps

The GorillaMobile Ori iPad 2 case by Joby is one of the most versatile and slick looking cases I’ve seen, at least by the looks of things in the demo video for it. Here’s a bit of detail on this innovative looking case:

Inspired by the Japanese art of the fold, Gorillamobile Ori for iPad 2 transforms effortlessly from a flat, light- weight protective case to an amazingly versatile iPad stand. Following months of research, Ori was designed to provide limitless ergonomic screen positioning and hands-free stability, without sacrificing the protection or portability of a sleek iPad case. Whether you’re watching a movie on the plane, flipping through a portfolio pre- sentation or typing an email at a café, you can position your iPad at the most comfortable height and viewing angle for you. For quick adjustments, simply tilt the screen or swivel the iPad from landscape to portrait display. Engineered from a special aluminum composite used in high-performance cars, the Ori stand delivers rigid sta- bility in a sculptural, lightweight form …

I love the look of the Ori iPad 2 case, and ordered one earlier today. It goes for $69.95, and you can see more information on it and place an order at the Joby product page for it here:

http://joby.com/store/gorillamobile/ori-2

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPad 2 accessories, iPad 2 cases, iPad accessories, iPad Cases

NFL Kicker HD, as the name suggests,  gives you a chance to take on the role of an NFL kicker (and punter). The game has you testing your skills at both field goal kicking and punting in a number of different challenge modes, from belting long field goals in windy conditions to trying angle punts out of bounds just shy of the end zone.

This is the latest iPad sports game from Full Fat Games, who are also the makers of NFL Flick Quarterback HD, Flick Soccer HD, and Flick Golf Extreme HD. All three of those are favorites of mine and excellent iPad games. Hit the break to see why this is yet another stellar game from Full Fat Games …

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Read the rest of Review: NFL Kicker HD for iPad (620 words)

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Post tags: iPad app reviews, iPad Apps, iPad game reviews

When it comes to iPad wallpapers, or just life in general, I’ve always been more of a dog guy – as some of you may have noticed with my many gratuitous pictures of my office colleague Labrador.

This weekend a wallpaper featuring a kitty caught my eye though and I thought I’d share for those of you (like my daughter) who are more fond of feline pets.

I’d love to see some of your favorite iPad wallpapers or how you’ve got your iPad home screens arranged. Please share your walls and home screens, or anything else iPad related, at our iPad Insight Flickr group.

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Post tags: iPad wallpapers

Who doesn’t like free? And who doesn’t like great iPad apps? When the two come together it’s good stuff. With that in mind, we’d like to share our Best Free iPad App of the Week here every weekend.

This week’s pick is Band of The Day, the iPad edition of which has just been released this week. Here’s the elevator pitch for the app in the iPad App Store:

Band Of the Day is the world’s first daily music magazine built solely for mobile devices. Surpassing traditional music magazines, Band of the Day delivers a new artist or band every single day through expert curation and engaging reviews, as well as full streams of the artist’s top songs, videos, photographs and more. A new band in your pocket, everyday. Listen, Discover, Share.

Right off the bat, that’s a very cool concept for an iPad app. And happily, it is tremendously well executed in Band of The Day.

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Read the rest of Best Free iPad App of the Week: Band of the Day (493 words)

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Post tags: Band of The Day for iPad, best free iPad app of the week, best free iPad apps, iPad Apps

100 Cameras in 1 for iPad, one of the best photo effects apps around for the iPad, has had its price dropped to just 99 cents. That’s down from its standard $3.99.

This is doubly good news as the price drop comes hot on the heels of a nice update to the app earlier this week, which added Instagram support to an already stellar set of features. Here are some of the app’s more notable features:

➤ Fast, simple, and light. Designed for speed and ease-of-use
➤ Export 100 New Effects directly to Instagram!
➤ Use your existing library to give existing photos 100 new magical looks
➤ or… take new photos (iPad 2+ only)
➤ 100 different effects that use mixes of hardlight, overlay, and more with beautiful textures from around the world.
➤ iPad version has many many additional features, including hi-res effects at 2000×2000 pixels.
➤ A “new” kind of app that takes the editing process in a whole new, beautiful durections
➤ Share your photos on email, Twitter, Facebook, SmugMug and Flickr!
➤ Gamecenter support. Unlock fun achievements!

100 Cameras in 1 was among our selections for Best iPad Apps of 2011, and is one of my favorite apps to use when working with images on the iPad.

Here’s an App Store link for 100 Cameras in 1 for iPad. I’m not sure whether this current price is a limited time sale or a permanent price drop; I am sure it’s a great price for a great iPad app.

© patrickj for iPad Insight, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPad Apps

On January 27, 2010 Steve Jobs introduced the iPad. As usual at a major new Apple product unveiling, you needed a calculator to keep up with the number of times great, amazing, fantastic, amazing, and other such superlatives were thrown around. Here’s the sum-up line from Jobs that struck me that day:

Our most advanced technology in a magical & revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.

It’s fun to see just how well than line stands up today – as the iPad has proved to be every bit as revolutionary (just ask makers of netbooks and PCs watching their market share get chewed up by it) as touted and its price has still not been beaten by any similarly-featured tablet.

Needless to say I was very excited by the iPad when I saw it announced would be a huge understatement. I posted my first article on this site two days later; here’s a little slice of what I said in that first post:

I’m excited about the iPad.  I want one, and will certainly get one on Day 1, and I’m excited to blog about this new device and especially about the apps that will run on it and the uses we’ll find for it.

I’m happy to say that I still feel that same excitement and enthusiasm for the iPad. It has proved to be even more of a game-changing device than I imagined. There are now over 180,000 apps designed specifically for the iPad and I’m still just as excited about finding the best of those as I was two years ago. Oh, and just a tad pumped up to see what Apple has in store for us with the iPad 3 this year.

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Post tags: iPad launch

The Daily – the first iPad-only newspaper – has had another update this week, to Version 1.2.3.

The details for this update state that once it’s applied ‘the app experience should be faster’. Here’s the full change list for it:

• Increases speed by deleting old data.
• Biggest fix: crashes! Increased stability of the app.
• Increased reliability of newsstand downloading.
• Fixes app in newsstand so you’ll see the most current cover.
• Fixes the issue with the new content (green) banner getting stuck.

Happily, the app does seem to be performing a little better following this update, at least for me thus far. The progress bar for new issue downloads zips along much faster than it used to. This latest update comes with some (familiar looking) notes on how to get best results from it:

ALERT: The first time you use this version you may experience slowness while the app is performing background maintenance. FOR BEST RESULTS please delete your current version of the app before updating.
Once you’ve updated it should take about 1 minute until an issue is fully loaded.

I know we have quite a few readers of The Daily here. If you’re one of them, let us know in the comments what you think of this update and performance following it.

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Post tags: iPad Apps