For today’s Daily Deal we’ve found 15 great apps to add to your iPad collection.  We have 5 productivity / entertainment apps and 10 game apps in today’s bundle.

We used our PadGadget Apps Tracker to find these great deals and we’ll continue to look for the best app deals as they pop-up. Some of these apps are up to 67% off, several are even free, so be sure to check them out because they are on sale for a limited time.

Game Apps

1. Darkness Rush: Saving Princess – Now available for Free instead of $0.99.
2. FlamingIgloo – Now available for Free instead of $0.99.
3. Geared 2! – Now available for Free instead of $2.99.
4. Gem Keeper – Now available for Free instead of $2.99.
5. Haunted Manor: Lord of Mirrors HD (Full) – Now on sale for $2.99 instead of $6.99.
6. Inotia 3: Children of Carnia – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $4.99.
7. Mos Speedrun – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
8. Mystic Diary: Lost Brother HD (Full) – Now on sale for $2.99 instead of $4.99.
9. Super Sushi Ninja – Now available for Free instead of $1.99.
10. Venice Mystery – Now on sale for $1.99 instead of $4.99.

Productivity and Entertainment Apps

1. ColorBlast! HD – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
2. FL Studio Mobile HD – Now on sale for $9.99 instead of $19.99.
3. Hitpad – See What’s Up – Now on sale for $2.99 instead of $3.99.
4. MobileMonet HD – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
5. SoftBox Pro for iPad – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $2.99.

Also be sure to check out yesterday’s Daily Deal to find more great savings.

You can also check out TapCentral’s Daily Deal to discover some great deals on iPhone and iPod Touch apps.

We use our PadGadget Apps Tracker to constantly monitor the App Store to find the biggest price changes on iPad apps. Our editorial team goes through the data, picks the best deals on the most interesting apps and then brings them to you on a regular basis. All app prices are checked at the time of posting but prices are subject to change without notice. When developers put their apps on sale it’s usually for a very limited time, often 24 hours or less, so be sure to check pricing on iTunes before making a purchase.

I’m going to play a little bit of chicken vs. the egg on a recent discovery by Forbes that according to a Crittercism report, iOS apps crash more than those running on Android.

According to the study, the likelihood of an app crashing is quite dependent on the version of each operating system you are running, with iOS 5.0.1 being the least stable of them all experiencing 28.64% of overall crashes (in a normalized data set).

Forbes asks the kinds questions we would expect, wondering why there are so many crashes and suspecting it is due to hardware failures or networking differences. As a developer myself, the questions I would ask are much more troubleshooting in their nature. I’d like to see a report on -which- apps are crashing. For instance, if you take a game with immense popularity and millions of downloads that is being playing millions of times daily by millions of people… seeing it crash a number of times is not actually something I would be that concerned about. But if the apps that are crashing are quite varied in their titles and we see it happening across multiple devices, multiple app categories and a varied user demographic then then it is much more likely that the disconnect is in the hardware and less so with the user.

Consider also that there are over 100,000 more apps in the Apple App Store for iOS than there are for Android. Consider also that there are a significant number more users on Apple devices than Android (while I appreciate Android activations are increasing rapidly and rivaling that of iOS, a significant portion of those are not attached to data plans and taking advantage of apps in general). Adding in the human factor among developers of those apps and you are bound to see a crash or two, particularly among the more ground breaking apps that take advantage of operating system features as they come out.

Forbes did conclude that there were some issues that came out of developers not adhering to standards with Apple features such as iAds and that there were problems as a result, which only stands to reason. The one conclusion they did draw was that the majority of crashes were seen on the latest version of iOS where the widespread adoption of the latest Android version, Ice Cream Sandwich, is not yet prevalent.

From my personal experience, I would challenge you to surf the web on an Android tablet for longer than what seems like a few moments without experiencing a crash… until you install an alternative web browser such as Firefox (my choice for my Android tablet). Of course I am generalizing on this one, but that is what reports like this are all about.

The iBooks Author 1.01 update was released today, and while the notes say that the release provides an updated version of the End User License Agreement, the update is, in total, 143.50 MB, which is a pretty good sized download.

Apple’s revised EULA now clarifies the fact that Apple has rights over the format that a book published with the software is in, not the content in the book itself. A book that uses the .ibooks formatted file can only be sold or distributed through Apple

A book that does not use the .ibooks format, such as a book that uses the Kindle format or the standard EPUB format, is not subject to the same restriction.

From the EULA:

“If you want to charge a fee for a work that includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, you may only sell or distribute such work through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple. This restriction does not apply to the content of such works when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format.”

This statement should clear up a lot of the confusion that people were having over the new iBooks Author publishing system. Apple never owns your content – merely the format. If you choose to use iBooks Author to create an ebook, Apple wants a 30 percent cut of your sales, but they don’t have any authority over your content and whether or not you choose to simultaneously publish it elsewhere in a different format.

It’s been a rough week for Samsung in what appears to be an ever-expanding legal battle.  In addition to an investigation with anti-trust sentiment by the European Union, Apple has now increased the number of claims to 278 (22 patents and 10 devices).

The claims come in the Australian lawsuit that made headlines on 2011 when the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was banned for a short period of time. It is going to take some time to disseminate the nature of all 278 claims, but it is clear that many of the claims involve yet to be released devices.

The original suit involved only three patents. According to The Australian:

“Samsung lead barrister Neil Young SC said Apple had “enormously” expanded its patent bid which initially involved three patents of features in the Korean company’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.”

While the strength of Apple’s position is unclear, it certainly seems that Apple is upping the ante and creating a more difficult situation for both Samsung and the courts of Australia.

The Boston Globe got right to the heart of the matter about why such lawsuits often exist:

“Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. are engaged in a strategic war over patents in many countries as they try to gain market share.

The EU’s antitrust watchdog launched a formal investigation into whether Samsung is using lawsuits over key patents on 3G wireless technology to hinder competitors – including Apple.

The European Commission, which is acting as the EU’s antitrust enforcer, said it suspected Samsung of not giving other companies fair access to patents it holds on standardized 3G technology for mobile devices.”

As these situations unfold I am reminded of a warning my parents often gave me before playing in the woods. “If you see a hornets nest, don’t disturb it.” These behemoth companies are acting the parts of the clashing titans and Apple has gone on an aggressive offensive.

It’s quite possible that Apple is interested in both winning the suit and creating a mess of delays by expanding the suit to 22 patents and 278 claims. I’m going to go get some popcorn because the hornets’ nest has been disturbed.

[image via technobuffalo.com]

I’m sure Apple’s legal department always enjoys a day that starts with a sales injunction. Earlier today Motorola Mobility was granted just such a one over G/UMTS patents that resulted in Apple having to pull their 3G-enabled devices, such as the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2 WiFi + 3G (the iPhone 4S is excluded due to the use of a different baseband chip), from being available for sale from their online store in Germany.

It didn’t take long for Apple to receive a suspension of that injunction, allowing them to place their devices back up for sale and return to business as usual.

To enact this sales injunction (which is the enforcement of a court ruling from late 2011 that ended in Motorola’s favor), the company had to put up almost $131 million US dollars, which they did. The strange part is that the only sales that were stopped were those generated from the online store. All units found in retail locations were exempt from this ban.

The official statement given by Apple on the matter states:

“While some iPad and iPhone models are not available through Apple’s online store in Germany right now, customers should have no problem finding them at one of our retail stores or an authorized reseller. Apple is appealing this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.”

Motorola needs to be cautious so as to not be seen as violating FRAND rules (something Samsung is also under investigation for doing) as they are actually now obligated to be “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” and license their patent as it has been identified as necessary to 3G/UMTS standards.

Most feel that Apple will appeal this court decision stating that they are entitled to a compulsory FRAND license from Motorola and that the penalties for their current violation should be minimal.

The independent research firm Changewave released survey results that show iPad owners are happier with their purchase than their counterparts who purchased Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Of those surveyed 74 percent of iPad owners reported being “very satisfied” with their purchase as compared to 54 percent of Kindle Fire owners.

Notably, users of both tablets are more satisfied than owners of all of the other tablets combined. Of those who purchased neither the iPad or Kindle Fire, 49 percent reported being very satisfied.

Of the complaints about the Kindle Fire, 27 percent of those surveyed named the lack of a volume up/down button as the thing they liked least about the device. (To adjust the volume on a Kindle Fire users need to use the touch screen interface.) Not surprisingly, 59 percent of Kindle Fire owners named price as the thing they liked best about their new tablet.

Amazon faired extremely well when Changewave asked respondents where they planned to spend money over the next 90 days. It stands to reason that planned spending is an overall underestimate of true spending, but it is probably a relatively accurate gauge of where consumers spend cash.

Even though Kindle Fire owners may grumble, 20 percent of them still reported that they planned to spend more money at Amazon than they did prior to owning a Kindle Fire. Kindle Fire’s strength may come through its ability to tie users to Amazon’s prodigious (and ever-growing) ecosystem.

Apple’s success is bolstered by legions of brand loyal fans and advances like iCloud that reward users for buying multiple Apple devices. Though Amazon power users seem to be driven by price and convenience, which are two powerful economic movers. It will be interesting to see if Amazon will be able to use its wide reach to keep customers returning even if the products lack certain features.

In NFL Kicker HD you can try your hand at becoming an NFL kicker, working on landing accurate and point-scoring field goals! Think you can do as well as the pros? See if you can’t manage to hit the uprights while battling the wind and then we’ll talk.

Dress yourself as your favorite player, customizing your uniform complete with the correct number to really get you in the spirit (and just in time for the Superbowl)!

A full tutorial mode will walk you through just how to play the game, teaching you how to kick like a real football player. This is helpful whether you are a football fan(atic) or not as there really are a few tips and tricks that make it easier to get the ball to go where you intend (avoiding Coffin Corner!).

NFL Kicker is full of achievements which lets you be competitive with yourself as much as others. I fought against myself to get my kick accuracy above 57% which was a real struggle! The best part? When you really kick one home, your player will do a celebration dance that I promise will crack you up.

Just as I thought I’d mastered this one, the wind picked up and my kicks started falling short or clipping the uprights! This need to change up your strategy keeps this repetitive and single-function game from getting boring.

What I liked: While this might appeal to the men more than the women, I enjoy the cheerleaders also being on the field. If nothing else they will make you laugh as they perform their routines in anticipation and then in celebration of your successes.

What I didn’t like: I expect that most people grabbing this app are football fans to begin with, but it might be nice to have some explanation of the terminology used in the game (like Coffin Corner) for those that might be new to the sport or children that are unfamiliar.

To buy or not to buy: The pace of this game is fast enough and the concept simple enough that it is the perfect companion to your Superbowl parties and Sunday afternoon’s watching the game with your friends (especially if you are good-natured and competitive)!

• App Name: NFL Kicker! HD
• Version Reviewed: 1.1
• Category: Games
• Developer: Full Fat
• Price: $0.99
• Score:

Wondering what to get your significant other for Valentine’s Day?  How about an iPad accessory?  Today we have partnered with our friends at Nomad Brush to offer our PadGadget readers a chance to win a limited edition RED Compose brush.

We reviewed the Nomad Brush stylus last summer and liked the way it mimicked the feeling of painting. We compared it to the way “…iBooks replicates turning paper pages. It is not essential to the process of reading, but it makes the experience more enjoyable.”

Nomad’s special edition Compose brush is available through February, with free engraving (up to 25 characters) through Valentine’s Day. You can purchase them on the company website for $39.99.  Purchase one for your Valentine or enter our contest for a chance to win.  We have one Nomad Brush (plus engraving) available to win and entering our contest is easy!  Just follow the directions below and maybe you’ll be a winner. Good luck!

Enter via Twitter in two easy steps

1. Follow us on Twitter. You must follow us on Twitter so that we can send you a Direct Message if you win. If you aren’t following us, we have no way to contact you directly.
2. Click the tweet button below to have our contest message automatically added to your Twitter status box. Then simply click to tweet!

Please make sure you are following PadGadget before you Click to Tweet your case option below!  Readers who are not following PadGadget will not be selected.

One lucky winner will be selected at random to win.  You can enter as many times as you like and the contest ends Sunday, February 5th at 11:59pm Central Time.

Note:  PadGadget only ships to addresses in the United States and APO/FPO mailboxes.

We don’t have much longer to wait until Superbowl Sunday and what better game-side companion (along with a generous helping of friends, snacks and libations) than your iPad?

So who’s it gonna be, Giants or Patriots?

1. Pro Football Radio Live (Free) – Whether you aren’t able to watch the game and this is your way to get connected and listen to the action or you just want to supplement the commentary from the television (there is a certain charm and skill to radio announcing that you just don’t get on television), this app will serve you well. It may just be that you want to listen to the highlights while you are in the kitchen stirring that chili or making another plate of nachos or pitcher of cocktails!

2. NFL Photo Booth (Free) – What true football fan wouldn’t enjoy having their picture taken with a favorite player? Especially if it is cheesy and hilarious? With a full array of Superbowl accessories to choose from in addition to the regular apparel, helmets, frames and accessories for all 160 players from all 32 NFL teams this is sure to be the source of a few laughs on Sunday (especially when you update your Facebook profile picture with one of these custom creations).

3. Super Bowl XLVI Official NFL Game Program (Free) – Presented by Chevrolet, this app is your official and collectible guide to the game. The same souvenir you can pick up in the stands is available for viewing on your iPad. Filled with video and other multimedia, this app gives you a dimension that can’t be enjoyed in the paper version of this game program.

4. Super Ads: Super Bowl Commercials ($1.99) – Next to the game itself, the best thing about Superbowl Sunday are the commercials. Well known for being the highest quality and most expensive advertisements of the year, not to mention some of the few commercials that we actually watch these days. This app contains 6 years of Superbowl commercials, including those that are new for 2012!

5. Chevy Game Time (Free) – Watch the game along with Chevy, answering trivia and accessing exclusive content, participate in live polling, share with friends and access twitter feeds all while trying to win yourself a new Chevy vehicle!

For today’s Daily Deal we’ve found 16 great apps to add to your iPad collection.  We have 8 productivity / entertainment apps and 8 game apps in today’s bundle.

We used our PadGadget Apps Tracker to find these great deals and we’ll continue to look for the best app deals as they pop-up. Some of these apps are up to 67% off, a couple are even free, so be sure to check them out because they are on sale for a limited time.

Game Apps

1. Another World – 20th Anniversary – Now on sale for $1.99 instead of $4.99.
2. Awakening – Moonfell Wood HD (Full) – Now on sale for $2.99 instead of $4.99.
3. Blosics HD – Now on sale for $1.99 instead of $2.99.
4. Football Manager Handheld 2012 (US and Japan) – Now on sale for $4.99 instead of $9.99.
5. Gardenscapes HD (Premium) – Now available for Free instead of $4.99.
6. Gosar. Episode One – Now available for Free instead of $0.99.
7. Robokill – Rescue Titan Prime – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $2.99.
8. Scribblenauts Remix – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.

Productivity and Entertainment Apps

1. Calculator Pro for iPad – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
2. ComicBook! – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
3. ContactsXL (Groups,Facebook Sync,Backup,Birthdays,Group Emails) – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
4. Mathemagics – Mental Math Tricks – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
5. My Measures and Dimensions PRO – Now on sale for $1.99 instead of $5.99.
6. MyReef 3D Aquarium HD – Now on sale for $1.99 instead of $2.99.
7. Passwords Plus – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.
8. Sleep Pillow Ambiance: white noise machine app – Now on sale for $0.99 instead of $1.99.

Also be sure to check out yesterday’s Daily Deal to find more great savings.

You can also check out TapCentral’s Daily Deal to discover some great deals on iPhone and iPod Touch apps.

We use our PadGadget Apps Tracker to constantly monitor the App Store to find the biggest price changes on iPad apps. Our editorial team goes through the data, picks the best deals on the most interesting apps and then brings them to you on a regular basis. All app prices are checked at the time of posting but prices are subject to change without notice. When developers put their apps on sale it’s usually for a very limited time, often 24 hours or less, so be sure to check pricing on iTunes before making a purchase.

It’s only been four months since the world was rocked with the news of Steve Jobs untimely death, and amidst wonderful tributes of all kinds from fans and admirers around the globe, one Taiwanese company has created a commercial that’s both distasteful and insulting to Jobs’ memory.

The company, Action Electronics, recently released an ad that features local Taiwanese comedian and impersonator Ah-Ken, selling the Android-based Action Pad. In the commercial, Ah-Ken is dressed as Steve Jobs, wearing his signature black turtleneck and jeans, in an Apple event setting. That’s not all, though. Ah-Ken is also decked out with wings and a halo. 

“Introducing the next generation of the pad,” he says. “It’s amazing! Pad. What more do we need? I think this is it — Action Pad [amidst fanfare]. Thank God I can finally play another Pad!” he adds, shouting enthusiastically.

Of course, as soon as the commercial was released there was an immediate response from angry viewers – as there should be, in this instance. Action Electronics spokesperson Chelsea Chen was contacted, and she had this cryptic message:

“Steve Jobs always promoted things that were good for people, Apple products, so his image can also promote other things that are good. It’s just an impersonator, not Jobs. We have no choice but to use Android, we can’t use iOS.”

Disgusting, to say the least. I’m sure we all remember what Jobs, who felt “personally betrayed” by Google actually had to say about Android, in his biography:

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

Many are calling for a boycott of Action Electronics and its Action Pad, so hopefully this marketing stunt proves less than successful for the company.

Most of us can use a little extra incentive to put in some exercise time on the treadmill and for a geek the best attractor is to add a few gadgets on to it. It seems that a future version of iOS may be a little more concerned about our health and offer “new fitness technology that will encourage a more competitive spirit by allowing users to compete and share real-time performance data with other users working out at the same time, even if those users reside in different parts of the world.”

Building on the functionality and technology that currently drives the Nike+ iPod ecosystem, this new fitness endeavor would allow users to share their workout details in real-time instead of having to complete a routine first before uploading the data.

Sounds an awful lot like what Google offers with the iFit.

Bally Technologies is a game maker. Not a video game maker, but the company that creates the casino-management systems, slot machines, and video machines that suck up your quarters and dollars when you step foot into a casino.

The company has also introduced a number of Vegas-oriented games into the App Store over the last year, and has added four new play-for-fun titles: Cash Wizard, Golden Pharaoh, Fireball, and Betty Boop’s Love Meter, all of which are based on full-sized casino versions of slot machines.

According to the Bally Technologies Vice President of Marketing, Dan Savage, those four games are all quite popular in casinos. The games feature interactive gameplay and a GPS-enabled locator to help players find actual slot machines in a nearby casino, just in case the fake version isn’t enough.

Cash Wizard, for example, offers the same great gameplay bonuses you’ve experienced before, like Pick-A-Potion, Wizard Bonus Bet, Mystery Wheel, and more, plus the 1970’s theme song “Magic.” All of the other titles offer the same bonuses and spins as their casino counterparts.

Each app is Game Center-enabled to allow players to track their progress and compete against each other on leader boards and against themselves to earn virtual badges and rewards.

All of the new games are currently available for download onto your iPad in the App Store, and can be purchased for $1.99-$2.99 each.

Looking for a nice iPad bag ladies?  Today we have partnered with CradleSlate to offer our readers a chance to win one of their luxuriously designed iPad bags.

We reviewed the CradleSlate bag yesterday and found it to be a stylish way for business professionals (primarily women) to protect and transport their tablet devices.  If you are in the market for a high-end, high-fashion bag to carry your iPad, check out our contest after the break.

Enter our contest for a chance to win a beautiful iPad bag for yourself or maybe even your Valentine.  We have one Virgin White CradleSlate bag to give away and entering our contest is easy!  Just follow the directions below and maybe you’ll be a winner. Good luck!

Enter via Twitter in two easy steps

1. Follow us on Twitter. You must follow us on Twitter so that we can send you a Direct Message if you win. If you aren’t following us, we have no way to contact you directly.
2. Click the tweet button below to have our contest message automatically added to your Twitter status box. Then simply click to tweet!

Please make sure you are following PadGadget before you Click to Tweet your case option below!  Readers who are not following PadGadget will not be selected.

One lucky winner will be selected at random to win.  You can enter as many times as you like and the contest ends Saturday, February 4th at 11:59pm Central Time.

Note:  PadGadget only ships to addresses in the United States and APO/FPO mailboxes.

How well do you know your digital music library’s album art? Ergonomidesign, creator of Sonicspree want to make a game of it. The developers hope to port Sonicspree to the iPad from its current incarnation as a Microsoft Surface application. The app’s creators turned to Kickstarter for help to fund the creation, or re-creation, of Sonicspree for iPad, since it would allow their game to reach a much larger audience. Surface 2.0 debuted with a price tag of $8400 — that’s about the cost of 17 16GB Wi-Fi iPads, so obviously Surface isn’t going to find its way into the game rooms of the average tech shopper.

The iPad app will be designed for 1 – 4 players. Once the Sonicspree for iPad is released, users will be able to draw on their iTunes account for music and album art content. The app will even allow users to generate game content using iTunes playlists.

The object to the game is to match digital cards that feature iPad art on them. The players flip one card over and put it in the center then take turns trying to find its match. There is one catch: the cards are moving during gameplay. The game is billed by its creators as “memory on steroids.” After the matching card is found the player that drags it to his home spot first gets the points, so speed is an essential component to mastering the game.

Sonicspree for iPad sounds like a lot of fun. I wonder how the app would deal with all of the albums in my collection that don’t have album art?

If the project meets its funding goal, interested backers who pledge just $3 will receive a copy of the game when it is released. Backers who pledge $25 will be invited to join the app’s pre-release test group.

Sonicspree for iPad must be funded by March 17, 2012. To date the creators have raised only three percent of their $10K goal. If this game appeals to you make a pledge to the project to help the creators see their idea to fruition.

Avid, the Massachusetts-based manufacturer of high-end digital video and audio production tools such as Pro Tools, just released Avid Studio for iPad. The app, dubbed as a “Pro-sumer” tool for video editing, is Avid’s first video editing app for tablets. Currently the app is available only for the iPad.

Avid Studio is designed to help users organize their videos and photos, then edit or enhance video, add soundtracks, and share their creations on YouTube and Facebook. The app is designed to work in sync with Avid Studio for the desktop.

Download Avid Studio from the App Store for an introductory price of $4.99. After 30 days the app price will jump to $7.99.

At either price point Avid Studio for iPad still comes in well under the price of desktop video editing software such as Avid Studio ($129.99) and Apple’s Final Cut Pro X ($299).

While the app’s lower price reflects the inherent limitations of using the tablet for video editing, it may also encourage consumers to take the plunge and give video editing a try. Compared to a desktop the iPad has a smaller screen, it can’t burn CDs or DVDs or handle Flash, but the tablet’s portability may also prove to be a selling point for Avid Studio.

Avid Studio for iPad will certainly give consumers another choice for tablet video editing. The app is poised to compete with Apple’s iMovie and Nexvio’s Reeldirector.

As Tanguy Leborgne, Vice President of Consumer and Mobile Technology at Avid sees a niche in the market for Avid Studio. Leborgne told AllthingsD, “We’ve seen a shift in how creation is happening, and it’s really happening on almost any device. We think the tablet is more than just a consumer device; more and more people are creating on it.”

This Wednesday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski announced an initiative to encourage schools and companies to adopt and transition to digital textbooks in schools over the next five years.

The government push towards digital textbooks stands to benefit Apple immensely. The Cupertino-based company launched its iBooks Textbooks just two weeks ago, and since its tablet is so far ahead of the competition, the iPad could very well become the go-to tool in the switch from paper to digital textbooks.

While digital learning has been embraced in states like Florida, Idaho, Utah, and California, most schools lack both the technology and the funds to set up a digital textbook system. Additionally, the iPad is cost-prohibitive for students, which remains a major roadblock towards the widespread adoption of the tablet for education purposes.

All the same, digital textbooks are the future. “When a student reads a textbook and gets to something they don’t know, they are stuck,” said Genachowski. “Working with the same material on a digital textbook, when they get to something they don’t know, the device can let them explore: It can show them what a word means, how to solve a math problem that they couldn’t figure out how to solve.”

Genachowski is also confident that the price of tablets will become more affordable, and since textbooks are an $8 billion dollar a year industry, Apple may be motivated to lower the price on its tablets. It’s widely thought that the iPad 3’s release will mark a price drop on the iPad 2, and I could even see a situation where Apple develops a stripped-down version of its tablet to sell to schools.

With a low cost iPad option and government subsidies for the purchase of the technology, the transition may be easier than we think. In just five years, those heavy, clunky paper textbooks that we carried around as kids might be a thing of the past.

Vampireville is yet another hidden object puzzle solving game that was originally designed for the PC. Like many others in this genre, it’s the perfect game to port to the iPad, with great graphics and puzzle-oriented gameplay that fans of hidden object games can’t get enough of.

Like many similar hidden object games, Vampireville has a dark plot with a mystery to uncover. In this case, a real estate agent sent to investigate a castle went insane, and it’s your job to visit the castle to figure out what went wrong and what’s lurking inside those creepy walls.

Most of the hidden object game plots rarely stand out, but Vampireville was unique because it’s dreary vampire-ridden plot line was laced with humorous elements like a talking ghost dog. It’s also got some fantastic, realistic 3D graphics, both in the cutscenes and in the regular puzzles and hidden object scenes.

The gameplay is essentially puzzle based, and you will be tasked to complete mini quests like finding keys, fixing pipes, cleaning dog dishes, gathering bloody snacks, and more. Quests revolve around finding various objects that are hidden in complicated scenes.

Vampireville has more intricate hidden object puzzles than most games in the genre. Objects in the scenes are often placed behind other items, and so you must open drawers, draw curtains, and move items aside, which can make finding objects pretty tricky. Because there’s so much item movement, you can also tap incessantly if you want, with no penalty. Unfortunately, this also means there’s no zoom in function, which, once again, makes the game a bit tough if you want to play without using hints.

Every minute or so, you receive a fresh hint added to your hint counter. During the game, you‘re encouraged to use those hints  (because you can always get more, the game says), and this is because there are additional hints available as an in-app purchase. If you run out and don’t want to fork over additional cash, you can just wait a few minutes and you’ll have some more hints to use. Overall, this system works really well and keeps the game paced well.

There are, of course, plenty of fun mini games. You will perform tasks like aligning gears, reconstructing pictures, and playing cards. I was impressed with the variety of mini games, none of which were overly difficult or too easy.

The game is organized into chapters, and after every chapter, you’re awarded a trophy, and you move on to the next area of the game. After a bit over an hour, I was approximately 25 percent of the way through the game, so I’d estimate that there’s between four and six hours of gameplay, depending on how many hints you use.

I liked this game, but unfortunately, it is not without its flaws. Sometimes tapping and dragging items to other items in the environment is entirely unresponsive, and I got stuck a few times. Ultimately, I got permanently stuck in Chapter 7 trying to get the last hidden object – a bell that was behind a cabinet that would not open no matter how I tapped on it.

When the bugs are ironed out, Vampireville HD will be a good entry into the hidden object genre on iOS, and fans of these types of games will want to check it out.

What I liked: The plot line, the graphics, and the intricate hidden object scenes were all great.

What I didn’t like: I got stuck a few times because of unresponsive environments, and while I got stuck on Chapter 7, I’m not sure if it was just an error in my game or something I was doing wrong, because I do know that people who commented on the game in the App Store managed to get further than that point.

To buy or not to buy: For now, I would recommend checking out the free version. If you like it, keep an eye on the paid version, and wait until it’s updated with some bug fixes before buying. It definitely has the potential to be a good game, but it’s not there yet.

• App Name: Vampireville HD: haunted castle adventure
• Version Reviewed: 1.2
• Category: Games
• Developer: Nevosoft
• Price: $4.99
• Score:

Today’s rumor is coming to you from Japanese tech blog Macotakara, a site that’s been quite a bit more accurate than our typical rumormongering site DigiTimes when it comes to insider information on Apple products.

So what’s going on today? Well, last week the site said that Foxconn and Pegatron, two of Apple’s suppliers, issued orders to begin assembling iPad 3s in order to accommodate a March event, and today, Macotakara has announced that Apple will showcase the iPad 3 in a media event in March ahead of its actual launch.

The site originally thought the iPad 3 announcement would take place in February (on Steve Jobs birthday, perhaps?) and then go on sale the next month, but now that’s shifted to March. Macotakara still believes that Apple will hold an event in February, but it won’t be a product launch. The site doesn’t know anymore than that, and even called the event “strange.”

Here’s the (computer) translated quote from the article:

I reported that Apple was going to hold Special Event in early February according to Asian supplier and source from united states, but this report told a half-side of truth. Apple will hold “Strange” event at February instead of Special Event. Special Event for new products will be hold in early March and will release products during March as usual.

I think it stands to reason that Apple might hold some kind of celebratory event in honor of Steve Jobs, but I have no guesses on what might go on at such an event. Either way, the iPad 3 launch is creeping up on us, and it won’t be long now.

And just in case you’ve forgotten, the new iPad is rumored to feature a quad-core A6 processor, a high-resolution display, and LTE support.

Word find puzzles can be extremely therapeutic for those with a hectic lifestyle. Focusing all of one’s attention on a grid of seemingly random letters in an effort to find the words hidden in front of you helps block out all the busy noise of the world around.

Mega Multilingual Word Find is just the app to quiet the spinning in your head, no matter what language the spinning is in.

Not only does this app come with 20 different categories and four board levels, but players can add 10 different languages for just $0.99 per language. All 10 languages can be unlocked for only $4.99.

The puzzles range in difficulty based on their size. The small board has larger letters and fewer words. The puzzles at this level are great for new readers. If you are learning a second, or third, language, this may be a great place to start. As the board gets bigger, the letters get smaller and the list of words grows longer.

Players can also choose from 20 different categories, including body parts, sports and others. If you are unsure of what category you want, hit the random button to see what you will get.

Words are selected by either dragging your finger across all of the letters, or by taping the first and last letter of a word. When one is found, it will be highlighted in blue and the one on the list will flitter away.

As word puzzles go, this one seems a bit phoned in. I noticed that, often times, multiple words would share the same letter. For example, after finding the word, blue, I would also find the word black, bronze and brown, all sharing the same “B.” Many of the words would overlap to the point where a word would share every single letter in it with other words. Meanwhile, other areas of the board would remain untouched.

The user interface was very smooth. The board is uncluttered by unnecessary colors or graphics. There was never any glitches or stutters in the game.

What I liked: I liked the clean look of the design. It helps keep one focused on the puzzle. I also liked that there are so many categories to choose from, even in the free version.

What I didn’t like: I would like to see more attention paid to placement of words on the board. There should never be a time when four words share the same first letter.

To buy or not to buy: This is a relaxing and comforting app. It is free to play and very inexpensive to add additional languages. I recommend it for fans of word puzzle games.

• App Name: Mega Multilingual Word Find
• Version Reviewed: 1.0
• Category: Games
• Developer: Accio
• Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
• Score: